The Sporkful

What Happened When China Legalized Restaurants

23 Mar 2026

Contributed by Lukas

In the 1980s and ‘90s, China went through a massive economic transformation. New government policies allowed everyday people to open their own busin...

Padma Lakshmi Was An Ice Cream Mule (Reheat)

20 Mar 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Is Padma Lakshmi a model-turned-TV-star who's grown accustomed to the finer things? Or a down-to-earth mom who reuses takeout containers for her lefto...

No Somali Artifacts Were Harmed In The Making Of This Cookbook

16 Mar 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Somali cuisine is a mixture of many traditions, from meat prepared according to nomadic customs, to a spice mix made possible by medieval Indian Ocean...

Breaking The Ramadan Fast In A Cab At 50 MPH (Reheat)

13 Mar 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Dan fills a taxi full of food and takes it to JFK Airport at sundown to break the Ramadan fast with Muslim cab drivers. What could go wrong? Plus a Te...

Asma Khan Says Women Shouldn't Cook For Free

09 Mar 2026

Contributed by Lukas

The London restaurant Darjeeling Express is the place to go for an outstanding mutton kebab, and for celebrity sightings. But the chef behind this hot...

Danny Trejo, From Lockup to Donut Shop (Reheat)

06 Mar 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Danny Trejo is a Hollywood legend. He's been in nearly 400 films, often playing the kinds of characters you wouldn't want meet in a dark alley. When h...

When ICE Came, This Minnesota Restaurant Stepped Up

02 Mar 2026

Contributed by Lukas

El Burrito Mercado has been a bedrock of the West St. Paul community for nearly 50 years. It’s changed a lot over that time, evolving from a small g...

How To Read A Taco (Reheat)

27 Feb 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Professor Steven Alvarez believes you can read a taco. Look at the meat, the spices, and the tortilla. Each ingredient has a story that unlocks someth...

Catching The Codfather

23 Feb 2026

Contributed by Lukas

For decades, Carlos Rafael owned the biggest fleet of boats in the most valuable fishing port in America: New Bedford, Massachusetts. He was so powerf...

Till Pork Do Us Part (Reheat)

20 Feb 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Dan and his wife Janie are both white and Jewish, both raised in the New York area. In many ways it's an easy fit. But not so much with food, because ...

Is Halal Pork… Possible?

16 Feb 2026

Contributed by Lukas

The writer Aymann Ismail, a practicing Muslim, grew up not eating pork. But as he got older, he became curious about why eating pork was a line that e...

Lunchtime With The Simpsons (Reheat)

13 Feb 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Dan’s dreams come true when he visits The Simpsons writers’ room to talk about the role food plays on the show and behind the scenes. Turns out th...

Sporkful Dating Game: Suitcase Full Of Cheese Edition

09 Feb 2026

Contributed by Lukas

This week, The Sporkful plays matchmaker! We put out the call for Sporkful listeners looking for love, and many of you responded. We used our propriet...

How Prison Ramen Saved My Life (Reheat)

06 Feb 2026

Contributed by Lukas

When Gustavo “Goose” Alvarez was 18, he was sent to prison for the first time. When he arrived, the other incarcerated men wanted to know if they ...

The Great Super Bowl Snack Debate

02 Feb 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Michael Ian Black and Tom Cavanagh are great comedic actors and friends who love to analyze snacks in extreme detail on their podcast, Mike and Tom Ea...

2 Chefs And A Lie: Canadian Prime Minister Edition (Reheat)

30 Jan 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Dan gives up the hosting chair and becomes a contestant in our most popular (and only) Sporkful game show, 2 Chefs And A Lie! The game is simple. Dan ...

Tom Papa Quit Vegetarianism After One Visit To An Italian Deli

26 Jan 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Veteran comic Tom Papa’s love of food began as a kid, when his dad recruited him for over-the-top food challenges — including eating a massive ste...

Elle Simone Scott Brought More Compassion To The Kitchen (Reheat)

23 Jan 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Elle Simone Scott recently died of ovarian cancer at the age of 49. This week's Reheat is our conversation with Elle from 2021.Elle once said that a f...

At 90, Jacques Pépin Is Still Teaching And Learning

19 Jan 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Jacques Pépin just turned 90, and he’s spent his career defying expectations. By 1958, at the age of 23, he had cooked for three French presidents....

Is It OK To Eat All Your Popcorn Before The Movie Starts? (Reheat)

16 Jan 2026

Contributed by Lukas

The Sporkful Family Food Court is back in session. A husband and wife debate when to eat movie popcorn, and a mother and daughter argue over whether e...

Is It Wrong To Eat Popcorn At The Movies?

12 Jan 2026

Contributed by Lukas

French podcaster Samia Basille loves going to the movies. And she enjoys popcorn. But she doesn't think the two should ever be combined. (Many other F...

Katie's Year In Recovery (Reheat)

09 Jan 2026

Contributed by Lukas

We follow one woman's attempt to recover from an eating disorder and hear what it’s like to wake up each morning and have to fight a battle not only...

Why Are Root Beer Floats Special? Because Science!

05 Jan 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Should you rinse ice before you pour a carbonated drink over it? What’s the best way to store fresh bread? And is there a reason to drink room temp ...

Cold Case: Office Fridge Food Theft Edition (Reheat)

02 Jan 2026

Contributed by Lukas

It’s Elkhart, Indiana, 2001. Two inches of Heather Coleman's turkey club disappear from her office fridge. The thief is nowhere to be found. And Hea...

Stanley Tucci Always Keeps A Martini Kit On Set

29 Dec 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Stanley Tucci nearly broke the internet in 2021 when he made a Negroni on Instagram. But long before that, the award-winning actor built his career ar...

A Hip Hop Track Inspired Bryant Terry To Go Vegan (Reheat)

26 Dec 2025

Contributed by Lukas

“So often when we talk about veganism, we don't imagine Black people,” says Bryant Terry, the James Beard Award-winning cookbook author, chef, and...

New Year's Food Resolutions 2026

22 Dec 2025

Contributed by Lukas

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 2026? All is r...

Elevating Airplane Food To New Heights (Reheat)

19 Dec 2025

Contributed by Lukas

This episode is chock full of strategies for making your way in one of the world's most barren food wastelands. We cover both the airport and airplane...

How To Steal A Truckload Of Tequila: Salad Spinner Year In Review

15 Dec 2025

Contributed by Lukas

From a moisturizer made of beef fat, to bartenders hating on Gen Z, to tariffs, a lot happened this year. (How do you get away with stealing 100,000 e...

Patti LaBelle Says She Cooks Better Than She Sings (Reheat)

12 Dec 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Patti LaBelle is not just a music icon, she’s also a food icon. She’s written best-selling cookbooks, hosted a food TV show, and even cooked for E...

Samin Nosrat’s Success Looked Different Behind Closed Doors

08 Dec 2025

Contributed by Lukas

It’s been eight years since Samin Nosrat published her smash-hit cookbook, Salt Fat Acid Heat. She says her whole adult life was on a trajectory tow...

Can We Go Viral On TikTok? (Reheat)

05 Dec 2025

Contributed by Lukas

TikTok is the wild west of the food media world. It’s less professionalized than Instagram and YouTube, and it holds the promise of virality from th...

Seed Oils Are The Latest Battle In The Cooking Fat Wars

01 Dec 2025

Contributed by Lukas

In America, the cooking fat you use — lard, butter, shortening, oil — has long been a signifier of health, virtue, and class. What is about fat th...

What Should Be The Last Cheese On Earth? (Reheat)

28 Nov 2025

Contributed by Lukas

This week we’re reheating two call-in episodes from 2015. First: Two Sporkful listeners call in to debate the best way to make enchiladas: flat (las...

What’s It Like To Cook With A Brain Injury?

24 Nov 2025

Contributed by Lukas

How does a traumatic brain injury affect the way you cook and eat? Filmmaker Cheryl Green, who has a brain injury, satirizes her own experiences in th...

Hosting Thanksgiving With Amy Sedaris (Reheat)

21 Nov 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Amy Sedaris offers advice on dealing with family members who are drunk or confrontational at the holidays. Plus, Robert Krulwich (formerly of Radiolab...

The Last Meal Roy Wood Jr. Made For His Father

17 Nov 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Roy Wood Jr. has long used humor to discuss topical issues and get at deeper truths. As a correspondent for The Daily Show, and now as the host of Hav...

In The Test Kitchen With Dan Souza & Lisa McManus

14 Nov 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Today we’re bringing you a conversation Dan had on the new podcast In the Test Kitchen, from America’s Test Kitchen. Hosts Dan Souza and Lisa McMa...

What Is Colorado Style Pizza?

10 Nov 2025

Contributed by Lukas

We all know the classic regional pizza styles: New York, Chicago, Detroit. But Colorado? If you haven’t heard of that one, you’re not alone. Paul...

Phil Rosenthal Has A Menu Strategy (Reheat)

07 Nov 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Wherever Phil Rosenthal goes, he wants to eat — which explains the name of his Netflix show, Somebody Feed Phil. He travels the world with wide eyes...

How Did Tony Shalhoub Learn To Play A Chef On Screen?

03 Nov 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Tony Shalhoub is an actor whose roles skew towards the quirky and neurotic — and his characters’ quirks often come out through food. In the classi...

A Comprehensive Candy Treatise For Halloween (Reheat)

31 Oct 2025

Contributed by Lukas

This week we're talking about a number of key candy issues with special guests in time for Halloween. You'll hear from a Colorado-based Eater whose hi...

What Makes Dorie Greenspan’s Recipes So Good?

27 Oct 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Ask folks in the world of food and cookbooks, “Who writes the best recipes?” and you’ll hear one name more than any other: Dorie Greenspan. "Dor...

How Did Staying Hydrated Become A Thing? (Reheat)

24 Oct 2025

Contributed by Lukas

To say that hydration is an invention is only a slight exaggeration. Water bottles have become a crucial accessory — a status symbol. How did that h...

How Does Paul Hollywood Dunk His Cookies?

20 Oct 2025

Contributed by Lukas

On The Great British Bake Off, Paul Hollywood is known for his tough but fair judgments, his piercing blue eyes, and his handshake, which he offers to...

Nadiya Hussain, From “Great British Bake Off” To Elbows Out (Reheat)

17 Oct 2025

Contributed by Lukas

When Nadiya Hussain competed on The Great British Bake Off in 2015, it seemed like all of Britain — from self-proclaimed #Nadiyators to the prime mi...

Why Would You Put A Recipe On Your Gravestone?

13 Oct 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Rosie Grant was already obsessed with cemeteries when she came across her first gravestone recipe. The headstone was carved into the shape of an open ...

Can I Wipe My Oily Hands On My Legs? (Reheat)

10 Oct 2025

Contributed by Lukas

We open the phone lines to settle your most contentious food disputes this week. Eliza wants to wipe her oily hands on her bare legs — is her boyfri...

What's In Taylor Swift's Signature Cocktail?

06 Oct 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Are chicken tenders having a renaissance? Are lit candles in restaurants worth the risk of a few people’s hair catching on fire? And when Taylor Swi...

How Ketchup Got Its Name (Reheat)

03 Oct 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Ketchup started as a far different product from what’s on the shelves today. A lot of its evolution can be traced to an early government agency and ...

What Can McDonald’s Tell Us About Black America?

29 Sep 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Growing up as a Black kid in Chicago, Dr. Marcia Chatelain says she learned more about Black history from McDonald’s than from her fancy prep school...

Celebrating Shabbat At Wendy’s (Reheat)

26 Sep 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Shabbat — the Jewish Sabbath – begins every Friday at sundown with a meal. But in all the years that Jews have been having Shabbat dinner, there’...

What’s A Jewish Tavern And House Of Learning?

22 Sep 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Josh Foer and Rabbi Charlie Schwartz set out to create a new kind of Jewish space, one that would be welcoming, thought-provoking, delicious, and even...

Is The Future Of Bourbon Female? (Reheat)

19 Sep 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Bourbon's growing popularity is changing an industry with deep roots in Kentucky. We travel there to learn what that means for one of the oldest and o...

Why Does Cracker Barrel Keep Making People So Mad?

15 Sep 2025

Contributed by Lukas

A few weeks ago, Cracker Barrel announced it was changing its logo — removing the old man in overalls and the barrel, updating the font, and removin...

How To Host Your Own Porkapalooza

12 Sep 2025

Contributed by Lukas

This week, we’re ringing in fall tailgating season with a barbecue, featuring three different cuts of pork: ribs, pork chops, and bratwurst. The gri...

Soju, Snacks, And Ramen: How To Party Like A Korean

08 Sep 2025

Contributed by Lukas

This week’s show is a raucous Korean-style night out, all on a weekday afternoon. Dan heads to Orion Bar in Brooklyn to learn how to drink like a Ko...

Writer Samantha Irby Is Having Fewer Over-The-Sink Moments (Reheat)

05 Sep 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Best-selling author Samantha Irby specializes in wringing comedy out of her own personal tragedies. Among her favorite topics: poop (she’s got Crohn...

Queer Eye’s Antoni Porowski Is An Emotional Eater

01 Sep 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Antoni Porowski wasn’t the obvious choice to be the food expert on Queer Eye — he’s not a chef and he has no formal culinary training. When the ...

Dan Savage Recommends A Polyeaterous Lifestyle (Reheat)

29 Aug 2025

Contributed by Lukas

What should you cook for breakfast the morning after? How can couples share power in the kitchen without driving each other crazy? We talk food and re...

How Long Should You Wait For The First Bite?

25 Aug 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Dan Pelosi and Negin Farsad join Dan to settle your food disputes! One couple can’t agree on when they should take the first bite of a meal: when th...

The Sporkful Dating Game! (Reheat)

22 Aug 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Could listening to The Sporkful be the fertile soil out of which true love grows? We put out the call for Sporkful listeners looking for love, and hun...

On The Hunt For The Elusive Pawpaw

18 Aug 2025

Contributed by Lukas

An email from Sara Bir set us off on an adventure. She’s an author and recipe developer who’s obsessed with pawpaws, the largest fruit native to N...

How To Be The Best Dinner Party Guest (Live)

15 Aug 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Casey Elsass is known as the “cookbook doula” because he’s helped birth nearly 20 cookbooks, as a ghostwriter or co-writer. Now, Casey has publi...

We Invent An Ice Cream Sandwich

11 Aug 2025

Contributed by Lukas

For years, Dan has kept a Google Doc of ideas for ice cream flavors and ice cream sandwiches. But nobody asked him for it. Then, the folks at Heap’s...

From Flurry To Blizzard: Ranking Weather-Themed Desserts With A Meteorologist (Reheat)

08 Aug 2025

Contributed by Lukas

There are a lot of desserts named after severe weather phenomena, but not all of them are created equal. We asked Tornado Alley's top meteorologist, G...

2 Chefs And A Lie: Normal Gossip Edition

04 Aug 2025

Contributed by Lukas

We’re back with our annual game show: Two Chefs And A Lie! But this year, things are a bit different. Dan isn’t playing — he’s the emcee! And ...

Marc Maron’s Drug Of Choice Is Sausage Gravy And Biscuits (Reheat)

01 Aug 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Dan and WTF host Marc Maron have been arguing about eating for over a decade. This week they revisit old feuds and start news ones, sparring over temp...

Are Carbs In Europe Better For You?

28 Jul 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Some people say that when they eat pasta in the US it makes them feel like garbage, but when they eat it in Italy they feel great. Is that legit? What...

This Podcast Contains MSG (Reheat)

25 Jul 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Fifty years after the panic about "Chinese Restaurant Syndrome" began, we explore how faulty science and perceptions of race and class contributed to ...

The Aleppo Sandwich Updated (Pt 3)

21 Jul 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Today, we have an update on one of our most popular Sporkful episodes ever, about a beloved sandwich shop in Aleppo, Syria, and an exiled aid worker n...

The Aleppo Sandwich Updated (Pt 2)

18 Jul 2025

Contributed by Lukas

When we left off, Shadi Martini was getting increasingly worried that his efforts to help those targeted by the Syrian regime would be discovered. A d...

The Aleppo Sandwich Updated (Pt 1)

14 Jul 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Back in 2017, we aired one of our most popular Sporkful episodes ever, about a beloved sandwich shop in Aleppo, Syria. At that time, Syria was reeling...

How To Eat Your Way Across Myrtle Beach

11 Jul 2025

Contributed by Lukas

The owner of Big Mike’s Soul Food in Myrtle Beach is also a city councilman, a church deacon, and a real estate agent -- so helping people is at the...

Is Imitation Vanilla Better Than The Real Thing?

07 Jul 2025

Contributed by Lukas

If you do the cooking, should your partner do the cleaning? Are savory oats underrated? Are broccoli stems better than the florets? This week we’re ...

This Hot Dog Tastes Like Home (Reheat)

04 Jul 2025

Contributed by Lukas

We take you to two iconic hot dog joints in Detroit and New Jersey to find out what makes them special. Plus Kenji Lopez-Alt schools us on the science...

The Street Vendor Who Sleeps In His Van To Protect His Turf

30 Jun 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Dan Rossi sells hot dogs in the most coveted spot for a street vendor in all of New York City – outside the Metropolitan Museum of Art. He’s been ...

This Butcher Wants You To Eat Less Meat (Reheat)

27 Jun 2025

Contributed by Lukas

How the (part veggie) sausage gets made...Cara Nicoletti comes from a long line of butchers, but her grandfather didn’t want her to follow in his fo...

How Jessica B. Harris Redefined American Food

23 Jun 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Over more than fifty years and 16 books, Dr. Jessica B. Harris has uncovered the ways that West African food, and African American people, have fundam...

The Hidden History of Regional Burgers (Reheat)

20 Jun 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Welcome to our summer cookout spectacular episode! We talk with renowned burger historian George Motz about the history of the hamburger, and about th...

Why A Famous Chef Asked A Critic To Leave His Restaurant

16 Jun 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Chefs tend to have a love-hate relationship with restaurant critics, who have the power to make or break them. Critics try to enter restaurants undete...

How To Export Coffee In A War (Pt 2) (Reheat)

13 Jun 2025

Contributed by Lukas

As civil war erupted in Yemen, Mokhtar Alkhanshali found himself imprisoned, with $5,000 stuffed in his underwear and his coffee samples confiscated. ...

A Battle Over The Secret Of Nooks And Crannies

09 Jun 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Thomas’ English Muffins are so famous for their nooks and crannies that the recipe that produces those iconic features is a closely guarded trade se...

How To Export Coffee In A War (Pt 1) (Reheat)

06 Jun 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Mokhtar Alkhanshali was a doorman in San Francisco when he saw a statue that changed his life. The statue was of an Arab man holding a cup of coffee, ...

Can Kolaches Be Bigger Than Texas?

02 Jun 2025

Contributed by Lukas

In parts of Texas, a kolache is about as common as a donut — but it’s relatively unknown outside the Lone Star State. The kolache is a traditional...

“The World Eats Here:” Stories From The Queens Night Market (Reheat)

30 May 2025

Contributed by Lukas

This was supposed to be the Queens Night Market’s big summer... When the open-air market debuted in 2015, the crowds were massive. Founder John Wang...

Sebastian Maniscalco’s First Stage Was At The Dinner Table

26 May 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Sebastian Maniscalco is one of the top-grossing comedians in America, beloved for his stories about the food-obsessed family he grew up in, and his co...

New Jersey's Pork Roll-Taylor Ham Wars (Reheat)

23 May 2025

Contributed by Lukas

A 150-year-old blood feud over processed meat... When the New Jersey State Legislature tried to designate an Official State Sandwich, a fight broke ou...

How the Jalapeño Lost Its Heat

19 May 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Food critic Brian Reinhart fell in love with spicy Mexican cuisine as a teenager in Texas, but over the years he started to notice that the jalapeños...

What Makes Some Seltzers Sparkle? (Reheat)

16 May 2025

Contributed by Lukas

How to judge seltzers, plus the science of carbonation... Over the past decade, seltzer has exploded. Sales have doubled, and companies like Coke and ...

How Much Should You Tip For One Muffin?

12 May 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Are the vibes at a restaurant more important than the food? Would you rip a bagel and drag a piece through cream cheese, instead of slicing and spread...

Nigella Lawson Orders Food Like A Method Actor (Reheat)

09 May 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Nigella Lawson is a domestic goddess of the highest order. She strikes the perfect balance between aspiration — a beautiful garden, perfect lighting...

How The Real José Cuervo Invented Modern Tequila

05 May 2025

Contributed by Lukas

José Cuervo was a real person, and he revolutionized the tequila industry in the early 1900s. He navigated bloody business rivalries, cozied up to a ...

Cooking In An Immigrant Time Warp With Maangchi (Reheat)

02 May 2025

Contributed by Lukas

In 2007, Maangchi was 50 years old, a single mother of adult kids, and was addicted to online gaming. Her son suggested she post a cooking video to Yo...

Hydrox, Oreo, And The Fight For Sandwich Cookie Supremacy

28 Apr 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Hydrox cookies are known as a cheap knock-off of Oreos, to the point that Hydrox has become pop culture shorthand for “second best.” But did you k...

Jason Mantzoukas Sees Every Meal As A Threat (Reheat)

25 Apr 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Actor and comedian Jason Mantzoukas is known for playing characters that are overzealous, exuberant, and more than a little wacky. But these character...

Men Have Eating Disorders Too. Why Don’t They Seek Help?

21 Apr 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Public discussions about eating disorders tend to focus on women, and in the past, so have our episodes on the subject. But millions of men also strug...

The Geometry Of Pizza (Reheat)

18 Apr 2025

Contributed by Lukas

A neuroscientist calls in to debate the geometry of pizza, and food science guru Kenji Lopez-Alt explains how woodworking can help us make a better ba...

Roy Choi Can Summon Flavor From His Fingertips

14 Apr 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Roy Choi is a legend in LA. He was one of the first chefs to start cooking out of a food truck, and one of the first to mashup different cuisines in t...

Are All Vodkas The Same? (Reheat)

11 Apr 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Is there really a difference between cheap and expensive vodkas? In this collaboration with NPR's Planet Money, we go on a mission to learn how super ...