Podcast

The further adventures of The Roots as they conceive and record their second LP

Christina Ward is the author of Holy Food: How Cults, Communes, and Religious Movements Influenced What We Eat. It’s a fascinating book that digs deep into how the fringe and mainstream spiritual practices of Americas past shaped modern food culture, from trends to products still in the grocery aisle today. It’s a conversation you won’t soon forget and we hope you enjoy.    MORE FROM CHRISTINA WARD:A New Book Shows How Chicago’s Food History Intertwines With Cults, Communes, and Religious Movements [Eater Chicago]In the Name of the Fork: How Religion Shaped What America Eats [KCRW] Buy: American Advertising Cookbooks: How Corporations Taught Us to Love Bananas, Spam, and Jell-O

Andrew Rea is the man with the sharp knives behind Binging with Babish, a wildly popular YouTube channel and series of food and food-adjacent productions (we can call them short films). On this episode we catch up with Andrew about his great new book, Basics with Babish. We also go back to find out about the founding of his community and what he’s been cooking and eating around New York City. It’s a lot of fun catching up with Andrew, and I hope you enjoy this talk. 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 BABISH:The Perfect Burrito-Cheeseburger Fusion [YouTube]Binging with Babish: Tyler’'s Bullsh*t from The Menu [YouTube]Babish Breaks Down His Tattoos [GQ]

If you’d call yourself a “fruit person,” you’ll eat this episode up. William Mullan is a photographer and marketing manager whose book, Odd Apples, documents the stunning, strange world of heirloom apple varietals. His love of fruit extends to caring for urban apple trees in South Brooklyn and brewing his own cider—clearly there’s a lot to discuss! It was so fun to have William on the show to nerd out on fall fruit, the wine harvest, and more. Also on the show, Aliza and Matt are joined by producer Clayton Gumbert to dig into the sometimes maligned, oftentimes overlooked grocery store sandwich. 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 WILLIAM MULLEN:The Apple Expert Who Turned New York City Into His Personal Orchard [Grub Street]The Apple-Picking Apocalypse of Upstate New York [NYT] Buy: Odd Apples

Our newest episode coincides with the release of Sucker, Jilian Medford's fourth album as IAN SWEET. Jilian sits down for an in-depth conversation with Carmel Holt to discuss why this album is so significant, and represents a triumphant arrival, and a return. Persevering through the disillusionment and discouragement she encountered in her college music program, loss of confidence due to controlling bandmates, a band breakup, and mental health crisis, Jilian Medford has found her way back to the freedom, joy, and confidence she once had as a child, while now embodying the wisdom of all she has endured as a woman.