Podcast

Mahira Rivers is a freelance writer and restaurant critic based in New York City. Formerly an anonymous inspector for the Michelin Guide, she’s now writing the desserts-focused newsletter Sweet City and contributing to many publications, including TASTE. We had Mahira on the show to talk about her distinct point of view on food culture today, from her childhood in Hong Kong to challenging Eurocentricity in restaurant writing. It’s a great episode for anyone curious about food.  Also on the show, Jordan Michelman stops by for an entertaining chat about how mineral water is bubbling up in the zeitgeist (though not fast enough), as well as thoughts on his recent profile of a tea influencer, the Chateau Marmont, modern coffee, and many other topics.   Do you enjoy This Is TASTE? Drop us a review on Apple, or star us on Spotify. We’d love to hear from you.  MORE FROM MAHIRA RIVERS & JORDAN MICHELMAN:Turns Out Now Is the Golden Era for Fusion Cuisine [Resy]We Need More Shrimp Burgers In Our Lives [TASTE]The Extremely Online Tea Guy [TASTE]Mineral Water Gets the Silent Treatment [TASTE]

Singer-songwriter-multi-instrumentalist and producer Amy Helm recently returned with her fourth solo studio album called Silver City, and joins Carmel Holt to discuss the album's central themes of generational women's voices, and her own journey as a single mother, touring musician, middle age, love and divorce. Amy reflects on her path of revealing more of her own inner world in her songs, and discovering how much she has to share that can inspire and uplift others.

Two talented songwriters on the intensity and joy of the performing life

Nate, Dave, and DEM share their favorite rap joints of 2024. It's Quibble Jam! (Pt.2)

Happiness is Just a Flaming Moe Away: How, When, Where and Why Neural Systems Fire in Social Contexts

Emily Schildt wants food shopping to be a more fun and mind-expanding experience, and with her company, Pop Up Grocer, she’s getting customers closer to that destination. Emily is back in our studio to talk about some of her favorite products that she’s selling at her amazing New York City store, and how she sorts through the thousands of new brands to land on her always-rotating shelves. Also on the show is the founder of one of Emily’s favorite brands. PJ Monte is behind Monte’s Fine Foods, a historically rich (and legitimately incredible) New York City pasta sauce company. PJ has an amazing story to tell, and we get into how he took his family’s sauce recipe, made famous at their restaurant on Long Island, and hustled it onto the shelves of major retailers. And finally, we hear from Tuệ Nguyễn, a.k.a. TwayDaBae, about her terrific new book: Đi Ăn: The Salty, Sour, Sweet and Spicy Flavors of Vietnamese Cooking With TwayDaBae. Do you enjoy This Is TASTE? Drop us a review on Apple, or star us on Spotify. We’d love to hear from you.  READ MORE ABOUT POP-UP GROCER AND MONTE'S FINE FOODS:The 2024 Guide to Holiday Gifting [Pop Up Grocer]How Monte’s Fine Foods is Embracing ‘Tomato Girl Summer’ [Marketing Brew]This Is TASTE 127: Pop Up Grocer [TASTE]  

Snaxshot, the curatorial and slightly mercurial grocery newsletter and community, has grown into an industry force, read by CPG executives and members of food media on a near-religious level. (We are among these readers.) Andrea Hernández returns to the show to go over the big headlines from the year at the grocery store and in the CPG trenches. We cover so many buzzy brands and established warhorses in this conversation, and we tap into some generational divides when it comes to the quick-moving world of grocery. If you have any interest in the future of packaged foods as well as restaurant chains, this is the episode for you. Also on the show, it’s the return of Three Things where Aliza and Matt discuss what is exciting in the world of restaurants, cookbooks, and the food world as a whole. On this episode: Culinary Class Wars hell yes, Vinson Cunningham's amazing debut novel, Great Expectations, is full of surprises, B&H Dairy in the East Village is a living legend, The Odeon kind of rules right now, Mezcla energy bars is plant-protein at its best, Tony's Chocolonely milk chocolate gingerbread bars leads to a conversation about Harry Potter! Do you enjoy This Is TASTE? Drop us a review on Apple, or star us on Spotify. We’d love to hear from you.  READ MORE FROM SNAXSHOT:The New Grocer [Snaxshot]Kardashian Snack Brand [Snaxshot]This Is TASTE 217: Snaxshot [TASTE]