April 15, 2026 • 40 mins
Top Chef host and Traitors star Kristen Kish joins Sarah to discuss how competitive cooking is like a sport, the drama that comes with getting a whole bunch of really good cooks in the same kitchen, and shitty dudes in Scottish castles. Plus, Big Citrus in the flesh, an introduction to frozen toilet paper and our prayer that you never need to use it.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Welcome to a good game with Sarah Spain, where our
faces hurt from smiling so much. After getting to spend
back to back days with our iHeart Women's Sports Podcast,
fam photo shoot, draft Party, Business of Women's Sports Summit,
hell of a time with the Batty Girl Gang. It's Wednesday,
April fifteenth, and speaking of batties, on today's show, we're
skipping the need to know and getting straight to my
(00:21):
interview with Top Chef host and Trader star Kristin kish.
I caught up with her on Monday to talk about
how competitive cooking is like a sport, and how the
physical and mental demands trip up even the best of chefs,
the drama that comes with getting a whole bunch of
really good cooks in the same kitchen, shitty dudes in
Scottish castles, and frozen toilet paper. And I know what
some of you are thinking, Sarah, You're really talking about
(00:44):
cooking on a women's sports podcast. Well, just you wait,
dear slices, or should I say, let us cook? My
very sporting conversation with Kristin is coming up right after
this joining us now. She's the two time Emmy nominated
(01:05):
host of Top Chef and was the winner as a
contestant in season ten. You've also seen her on the
most recent season of Traders and hosting fast foodies thirty
six Hours Restaurants at the End of the World, an
Iron Chef quest for an Iron Legend. A native of Kentwood, Michigan,
she's the founder and head chef of Our Low Gray
Restaurant in Austin, and the New York Times best selling
author of the memoir Accidentally on Purpose. Her fits our
(01:25):
fire and she loves mayonnaise. It's Kristin Kish. I'm Kristin.
Speaker 2 (01:30):
I love you so much.
Speaker 1 (01:32):
Oh, it's great to see you.
Speaker 2 (01:34):
Great to see you.
Speaker 1 (01:35):
The last time we saw each other we were actually
hanging out on stage at Chicago Humanity's Week. We were
talking about your great book, which everyone should go out
and get. And since then you have filmed the whole
season of Traders and filmed the whole season of Top Chef.
So so much to get into. But first, how do
I creatively excuse bringing my foodie friend onto a sports show. Well,
(01:55):
the opening episode of this year's season of Top Chef
was at the Charlotte Motorspace and featured a couple of
NASCAR legends, so sports, and you're wearing a Detroit Tiger's hat,
so we're good.
Speaker 2 (02:08):
We're good. I'm wearing the Detroit Tiger's hat. I recently
threw out the first pitch at a game, so I
recently actually held a ball from sports, and in true passion,
I am wearing where you cannot see right now, sweatpants
sports and athletic socks, sports and some slippers which I
feel like sports people wear on they're often right. And
(02:31):
you're gay, so sports sports, gay lesbian, tall sweatpants and
all the things. Two sizes of suits.
Speaker 1 (02:42):
Perfect. You're a natural, you fit right in. I want
to ask you about that first episode, because you actually
got in one of those cars and took a ride.
Did you feel the need for speed? Did you want
to do it again? Or were you like, that's enough
of that so I.
Speaker 2 (02:55):
Would have done it again. And they gave us the
option to keep going because they had to catch some
more stuff for the camera. But it was about one
hundred and five degrees, so inside the car it was
twenty degrees hotter than that. I was wearing a full
on helmet, which those seas are really heavy for this tall,
thin neck. Of mine, and I was in full glam
(03:15):
heels and clothes that were too tight for me. Not
too tight for me, I will say, my stylists will
not be happy with me clothes that fit me properly,
so full glam. I wasn't going to do it again.
But had I been in this outfit or something slightly
more gay, I absolutely would have.
Speaker 1 (03:32):
Yeah. I mean you climbed out of the car in
a full like crop top with like fancy pants on
like seamlessly. You made it look easy, so we never
would have known you were heating up in there.
Speaker 2 (03:44):
You know.
Speaker 1 (03:44):
It felt like a fitting start to another season of
Top Chef, because the competition really is like a sport
in a lot of ways, like physically and mentally challenging
for the people who do it. Sometimes it requires individual glory.
Sometimes you got to work with a team. You've even
got a contestant this season who occasionally has to sit
out on injured reserve, So that is very sportsy. When
you're looking at people who come out of their kitchen
(04:05):
and into the Top Chef kitchen, like what about making
cooking a sport? Seems to trip them up the most.
Speaker 2 (04:11):
I think the pressure it is it's a different kind
of pressure. When you're inside your kitchen. It's like, I'm
going to try to do some sports things, your analogies.
You know, when you're on your practice team, court field
things with no one's really watching. You're just there exercising
the thing that you know what to do best. And
(04:33):
then all of a sudden, you go play on your
home court and people are watching and it's for rankings,
and then you try to go then to the away team,
and then you have all those people cheering against you.
There's so many different stages of this pressure. And I
think going from your kitchen to national television, competing against
other people, with the pressure of not wanting to disappoint
(04:54):
yourself but your mentors and everybody else rooting for you, you
start to overthink things in ways that you know, I
ever really knew your brain could operate in that way.
Speaker 1 (05:03):
Yeah, And it's interesting because cooking kind of always has
a clock, but like making a table weight is very
different than I didn't get the food on the plate right,
Like everything's just ratcheted up a bit from what's very
natural in the world of being a chef. Do you
think that there's a certain quality that you see that
tends to be common across all the chefs that go
the furthest on the show. Aside from just being a
(05:23):
good cook.
Speaker 2 (05:24):
I think the ability to adapt in a way that
kind of feels like superhuman in a lot of ways.
It's almost this muscle memory and this subconscious thing that
takes over your body and you're just like, you don't
even have to think about how to pivot and adapt
and do something differently. Something goes wrong, You're already on
to plan D, E F. And so those qualities I
(05:48):
feel like that are innately already in you long before
the competition. It is a skill set that you practiced
and honed so many different times in your life without
even realizing it. It's the ones that don't even have
to think about how to do the game.
Speaker 1 (06:02):
It's wild how much that's like sports. It's like flow state. Yes,
it's like I've done this so many times that I'm
just in a state where like you hand me something
new and I'm like, I know what to do with this,
whether that's a last minute shot in a game, or
we've added a new ingredient last minute. It's like the
overthinking let me run this through five different parts of
my brain. First will slow you down and gunk up
(06:24):
the gears. But if you have done it so many
times that it's a natural sort of flowing from one
place to another to get where you need to be.
It just works. And it's wild how those qualities can
translate across so many different spaces. And it's frustrating how
hard that is to teach.
Speaker 2 (06:38):
Even with the reps, you can't teach it. It is
so hard. I feel like it's all the different things
sports or cooking or just life in general, all the
things that you kind of maneuver through life in and
without even taking note your mind and your body is
what do they say, keeping the score and so it
just like falls over time and it happened. Also, there's
(06:59):
a lot of wedding in both things.
Speaker 1 (07:01):
Yeah, that's a lot, a lot, a lot of sweating.
I mean, as the host, you are also sort of
training and preparing for competition. You got to be ready
for long stretches at the table, eating plate after plate
of food. You have to like not spill on your clothes.
You have to you know, not have to run to
the bathroom midway through. You've got to be ready to
eat when the food's go, And do you have secrets
(07:22):
to like prepping your body, either for a season coming
up or a taping day.
Speaker 2 (07:27):
You know, I think prepping my body is secondary to
prepping my mind. I think the mind comes first, you know,
outset like that aside and all the therapy and the
things that I've done to overcome public speaking and social
anxiety and all that stuff. For my physical body, you know,
I do like to, you know, work out and stay
(07:47):
fit and healthy most of the time. But a lot
of it is a simple thing. And Gail taught me
this very first season, eat breakfast.
Speaker 1 (07:57):
You got it.
Speaker 2 (07:58):
You have to put it in co host because if you
do not put a base layer down, and then all
of a sudden you pile on all these different crazy
flavors and things that are maybe sometimes not delicious, or
you go in ravenous. You're screwed. You're absolutely screwed. You
will either end up needing to run away from the
table for a second or falling asleep at the table.
(08:18):
One of the two things is going to happen. So
I always eat breakfast. I choose high calorie, low volume,
so nuts, avocados, mostly nuts and avocados for me. And
hard boiled eggs. Put that base down so it can
catch everything. And then outside of that, I don't drink
a lot of water during the period of time, only
(08:38):
enough to cleanse my palate because I don't want to
fill up on water and I don't want to have
to go to the bathroom, So I dehydrate myself only
to fill myself up with food.
Speaker 1 (08:48):
Right right, and with Josh wine that of course, you're
just pounding.
Speaker 2 (08:54):
Throughout the tear, You're powding throughout that.
Speaker 1 (08:56):
By the end, have you ever been drunk or tipsy
by the time you get to the judging because you
were supposed to be either it was a pairing challenge
or the Josh was poored and you were imbibing.
Speaker 2 (09:08):
So good thing is is Josh has non alcoholic wine
and options, so I typically go for that. However, similarly
to when I competed on Top Chef and now to hosting,
I don't drink alcohol when I'm on camera. Okay, for
many reasons.
Speaker 1 (09:25):
You eat some weird shit, though I do. First of all,
you eat some weird shit, and you are not snooty
about your food. In fact, that's one of the things
that I've been so amazed in getting to know you
in all of our conversations. You eat a lot of
junk food. You like a lot of junk food. You
like a lot of Midwestern classics, like a good old
casse role with like onion strings on top and stuff
like that that I would never What are a few
(09:47):
of your like weird favorites that surprise people who expect
you to have a chef's palette.
Speaker 2 (09:51):
Oh got my entire my entire love of everything trashy
and junkie. You know, as I've gotten older, I've definitely
tamed it down. You know, I do prioritize health and
well being and the longevity of my life, even though
the Internet might prove otherwise when you see it. You know,
in my off in my off time, I do take
(10:12):
care of myself. That being said, one thing maybe I
haven't mentioned yet is breakfast cast role have you had that?
Speaker 1 (10:21):
Is it like a tater tot situation?
Speaker 2 (10:22):
Sort of yes and no. So basically what you do
is you take a package of crescent rolls like the
biscuit mix, and you put it raw on a casserole dish.
Then you put like shredded potatoes, some seasoning, and then
you pour eggs over the top, and then you throw
it in the oven. And what happens magically is it
all separates into three separate layers biscuit, egg and potatoes.
(10:46):
Like it just it separates and rises as it cooks.
Speaker 1 (10:49):
It is.
Speaker 2 (10:50):
It is a breakfast sandwich.
Speaker 1 (10:52):
Of your dreams. I'm in I haven't tried that.
Speaker 2 (10:55):
I will make it for you.
Speaker 1 (10:56):
Yes, okay, next time we hang breakfast role Okay. You
know we talked about the mental pressure in cooking and
people showing up and just being great at what they
do but not being able to figure out how to
do it under these circumstances. It's actually super common for
athletes to have a sports site to get them from
the practice court to the competition. Has the cooking world,
(11:17):
whether the competitive side or just being a top level
chef in life, entered that space yet where people know
that they need that sort of sports psyche But like
cooking sych.
Speaker 2 (11:27):
I don't know, because when you enter being a professional chef,
sometimes the goal and never will cross your path to
even go on television to compete in that kind of arena.
You know, when you choose to be an athlete and
eventually you make it to the top part of your game,
like that is the natural progression that you go. You
are still in like the realm of the thing that
(11:47):
you signed up to do. So I don't know. I
think that there's no preparation that can happen to throw
you onto cooking competition. It's just it is unlike anything
other than that. For me, who never chose a road
to becoming a great athlete but I did play sports
as a kid, is that I never I never could
(12:09):
lock into that skill set because that's not something that
I wanted. The example being I was great at free
throw basketball and during practice and then you threw me
in a game and it was a very important game.
It was middle school, eighth grade, playing on arrival, and
long story short, it gets down to the last like
(12:30):
ten seconds of the game. We're tied, I get fouled.
I go to the line, and where in practice like
just sinking every free throw, I got to the line
and I airball both. That just wasn't It's not a
skill set in me to like come alive during that
real pressure point in cooking, I feel, you know, I
(12:52):
come alive in that kind of arena. Yeah, So it's
just different.
Speaker 1 (12:55):
Also, maybe the wrong sport because I know you as
a kid when you got interested in you used a
tennis racket and some leaves in the backyard to practice
flipping food like a front fan. So maybe you were
just playing the rock sport. Maybe tennis would have been
the one for you.
Speaker 2 (13:09):
Maybe at forty two, I need to go back into
the sports world and find my sport.
Speaker 1 (13:14):
Yeah. Also, forty two is an age where a lot
of women start taking up tennis with the gals.
Speaker 2 (13:19):
So what about pickleball? I could do pickleball?
Speaker 1 (13:21):
Yeah, you could do that for sure. With your long limbs,
you would be a killer. You'd be a killer on
the court, you know. Speaking of sort of like the
sports connection. You won Top Chef, you were the champion.
You stepped up in the moment as a chef when
the pressure was on season ten, which was back in
twenty thirteen. Athletes to have like a pregame ritual or
routine that helps them get in the zone to do
(13:42):
what they're going to do, whether that's mental or physical.
When you did that run all the way to champion
of Top Chef, did you have a pre show routine
that got you like ready for the game as a
as a chef to step up in the pressure moment.
Speaker 2 (13:55):
I did, and on top chef. Back in those days,
the cameras would wake you up. All living in the
same house, and I was like, no camera is gonna
wake me up because I need at least an hour
and a half so I can do what I need
to do. Smoke a pack of cigarettes, get ready to go,
and so my sin, I quit. Did you quit that yet?
(14:15):
It's been seven years. It's been seven years. Good job,
thank you. So I would wake up. I would set
my little alarm clock that I brought in a little
watch because you couldn't bring anything other than that. And
I would wake up and I would sit largely oftentimes
in the dark because it was so early, and I
would sit out on the balcony and the shared condo
in Seattle. I would rip a couple of cigarettes, have
(14:36):
some coffee, put some bottom eye liner on, and like
I was ready to go.
Speaker 1 (14:41):
I love that. You're like, no one's catching me, puffy,
ride still in bed, no way to be out here.
Four cigarettes deep, ready for my day. So for this
season in the Carolinas, if I ask you, without any spoilers,
like what's the best thing you ate this season. What's
the first thing that pops into your head?
Speaker 2 (14:59):
Ooh there was two child there just one challenge already happened.
It was second episode, the chili pepper challenge. We had
two seven cores and then use that got progressively hotter.
I was dreading that like you wouldn't believe, but it
ended up being absolutely delicious. And then I will say
the episode. I don't know when this is gonna come out,
but the barbecue episode, I just hit after hit like
(15:21):
it was just outstanding Carolina Gold credible challenge. They all
really stepped up and it was just it was just
a cool challenge. Just in general.
Speaker 1 (15:30):
The only thing I really miss about eating meat is
that I have to be more creative in finding ways
to eat barbecue sauce now because barbecue sauce is my favorite.
Speaker 2 (15:38):
You don't eat meat?
Speaker 1 (15:39):
Yeah, vegetarian, I'm like like nine years Yeah.
Speaker 2 (15:42):
We had which what how are you getting your protein? Like,
what's your protein of?
Speaker 1 (15:50):
I still have eggs, cottage, cheese, regular cheese, greek yogurt beans.
Speaker 2 (15:57):
Okay, that makes sense. I feel like the deer I
had tofu. I have to cool it on my dairy consumption.
Speaker 1 (16:03):
Yeah, that's the problem. Is most of the protein is dairy,
so you gotta like and then beans aren't always my
friend either, So yeah.
Speaker 2 (16:11):
You're just walking around pick rocket fuel.
Speaker 1 (16:14):
Yeah yeah, but you got you mentioned the hot Pepper challenge.
This was so funny because the peppers were from an
actual place called pucker Butt Farms. Their slogan is like
if it doesn't make your if you don't get a
pucker butt, it's not ours, or something crazy like that.
(16:35):
Did you need a few days of recovery after that one?
Like two full meals of straight up spice?
Speaker 2 (16:41):
Honestly, the chef did such an incredible job at taming
and managing this spice that it was no different than
you know, if I went out for like hot pot
and had too many chili peppers, Like, it was no
different than that. So one of the tips that was
being thrown around during production was the night before the challenge,
(17:03):
everyone was like, put toilet paper in your freezer, and
I was like, that's ridiculous. You guys are ridiculous. I
eat far spicier things in life than these peppers that
these chefs are going to cook with. I didn't put
it in the freezer, and I ended up not needing it.
Speaker 1 (17:18):
So I was okay, toilet paper in the freezer, like
literally because just your butthole's on fire.
Speaker 2 (17:24):
Yes, yeah, okay, I don't know. But oh also on
the table, and we didn't really call it out, but
on the table there are different foods that apparently are
allegedly calm the spice on your palate, one being beef tchercy,
two being dark chocolate, another one being sour candy and
fresh lines. And so we had those on the table
(17:46):
to have.
Speaker 1 (17:47):
I feel like it'd be hard for the later people
if you blew out your palette, you wouldn't maybe give
them as good of a score, even if they might
have had a better plate rut.
Speaker 2 (17:55):
But I will say, when you're dealing with these peppers
from pucker Butt Farms and Ed Curry's breeding of these peppers,
a lot of the peppers have so much nuance and
flavor and of course spice. But it's not The game
wasn't about who can screw over the table of diners.
Speaker 1 (18:10):
First.
Speaker 2 (18:11):
The goal was professional chefs knowing how to tame and
work with flavor profiles that happened to have.
Speaker 1 (18:17):
You and make it good. Yeah. Yeah, the thing that
screwed you over was actually just the greenhouse that you
taped in, not the Oh purse, my god.
Speaker 2 (18:25):
I think TV can like tame sweat somehow. It was
un bearable.
Speaker 1 (18:32):
Think think yeah, y'all didn't look bad.
Speaker 2 (18:35):
Think Houston, Texas August, and then go inside a windowless
box with no air. No, that's what it felt like,
and then eat a bunch of peppers.
Speaker 1 (18:47):
Have you ever had a terrible reaction to, like a
challenge or a plate of food on the show, maybe
even something you didn't know your body wouldn't like, and
then later you're like, Okay, well that good to know. Yes.
Speaker 2 (18:58):
My very first season filming in Wisconsin quick Fired. Early
on in the season, it was cherries, and so I've
my whole life been allergic to raw stone fruits. My
lips swell up, it messes with my stomach. So cherries plumps, peaches,
et cetera. When they're cooked. I put the mane. And
(19:18):
so the night before the challenge, I tried like two
or three raw cherries, and I was like, oh, maybe
I'm cured. But when you have fourteen dishes of cherries
in different variations of dunness, at the end of it,
I was delivering the elimination challenge, because you go right
from judging to delivering the next bit. I was there
(19:39):
and I was full breakoup sweat like. They had to
stop down and I had to blot myself and get
retouched up because I was just profusely sweating. My body
was not happy. And then I took some medicine and
then I retired for the rest.
Speaker 1 (19:55):
Yeah, I'm picturing like Hitch where his face gets like
Will Smith's face gets like giant, his lips and his eyes.
Speaker 2 (20:01):
And it is you know, yes, Hitch. It was more bridesmaids.
Speaker 1 (20:05):
Oh oh no, yeah, oh no, rip your hotel room
or apartment.
Speaker 2 (20:12):
Okay, all right, I won't do that again.
Speaker 1 (20:15):
We got to take a break more with Kristen Kish
right after this. This is the twenty third season of
the show, which is crazy, and I feel like it
manages to present new challenges and keep things interesting and
come up with really fascinating ways to teach us about
(20:35):
cultures and food and places without doing the very frustrating
reality trick, which is like artificially upping the drama every
year and then eventually just jumping the shark. Because people
don't really want to watch people fight. They want to
watch them cook food, right, So contestants don't have to
like make their whole meal blindfolded, they don't have to
arm wrestle for ingredients. Like there's a couple little things,
but they're fun. It really keeps the cooking at the center.
(20:58):
Have you ever heard if there's any debate at the
top about adding those gimmicky elements or has anyone had
to push back on the idea that you need to
add those to keep people watching.
Speaker 2 (21:06):
I think the only people that sometimes will hear it
from are the fans who have gotten accustomed to that
kind of television, especially on Bravo. On Bravo, it is
high drama. There's fights, these relationships that are just blowing
up like it is. It makes you feel something, as
opposed to when you watch Top Chef. You're watching and
(21:26):
you feel things, but you're actually watching professional people do
their job. And so there's never really been especially since
moving away from those early seasons of high drama on
Top Chef, there's never ever really been a conversation of
being like, we should go back to that. We just
need the audience to understand that that's not that kind
of show and it's not going to happen.
Speaker 1 (21:47):
It's more enjoyable to watch y'all root for each other
too than early on when they try to get you
to talk about each other in confessionals.
Speaker 2 (21:53):
Well, and also the thing is is if you think
if we went back to that kind of manufactured, high
personal drama, you wouldn't get chefs at a very very
high level of cooking because they care too much about
their career. So if we're going to do Top Chef,
you want the best chefs, you don't want the best
drama makers. And so those two things, yeah, they don't
work together. Also, I feel like there is natural drama
(22:17):
that's going to happen, Like, not everyone is going to
get along, not everyone is going to make it to
the plate. There's things that are going to happen that
will give you that drama like you know in the
cooking world without being nasty.
Speaker 1 (22:30):
Yeah, we got plenty of that. We've got you know.
I mentioned Jennifer having to cook through a shoulder injury,
Nana who had a panic attack in the premiere episode. Man,
you so calmly and confidently tended to her. It was
such a beautiful moment. Why do you think that came
so naturally to you to just immediately be like, oh,
I'm going over there.
Speaker 2 (22:50):
You know. First off, I have to say I'm incredibly
grateful that I had that vantage point of her, because
if all that happened behind the kitchen, like we can't
react to anything, we don't. We are, and I've said
it till I'm blue in the face a million times over,
we are reality television. Like it's not TV made for
manufactured reality, and so if we never saw that, nothing
(23:12):
would have ever come of it. When she was coming
out the way my seat was positioned, I was the
only person to see her coming out of that kitchen,
and so I didn't know what happened in the kitchen,
her starting this the beginning stage of a panic attack.
But by the time I saw her, there's one of
two things that was going to happen. She was either
(23:32):
going to drop her plates or she was going to
pass out because she was not breathing properly. And I
was like, in five seconds sitting there, I was like,
I'm not going to let either one of those things happen. Don't.
I don't give a shit like it. My goal right
now is to make sure she gets in front of
us to tell us what she made.
Speaker 1 (23:50):
That's it.
Speaker 2 (23:52):
And I don't know without thinking, Like we talk about
the chef's pivoting, and you just naturally react to the
things around you just saw someone in distress, and I
once I saw it, I can't I couldn't ignore it.
And so for I don't know, five or six minutes,
we were doing like I was doing breathing exercises with
her because she was not she wasn't breathing properly. Yeah,
(24:16):
and so I'm so proud of her for getting to
the head of that table presenting her dish, and she
made it through.
Speaker 1 (24:23):
Yeah, it was a much better outcome for her, even
though she struggled later in later episodes, like she still
was able to leave and have everyone sort of understand
her struggles as opposed to the way also it was edited.
Certainly was gave her grace And you could have instead
edited that to make it as salacious and outrageous as
possible and have her leaving ashamed. And I think she
probably still felt disappointment and how her time on the
(24:45):
show went, but it was handled in a really professional way,
which I liked. You know. I wonder if the sort
of high stakes I mean, even when it's on a
competition show. Let's say you're in a top level kitchen
and you're trying to get a Michelin star. The difference
might be like how the plate is cleaned off or
how you cut a carrot. And I wonder if that
pressure is what contributes to so many stories of chefs
(25:08):
that are toxic, Like we're just seeing right now Noma
chef Rene reord Zeppi's legacy falling apart over you know,
physical and emotional abuse, and there have been countless stories
like that. Is there a quality or even maybe like
a potential for toxicity in the same people who are
also built to be great in the kitchen? Like is
there something that goes handed? Is it hard to be
(25:29):
the very best at the highest level and be completely
normal and regulated?
Speaker 2 (25:35):
You know?
Speaker 1 (25:35):
I think because for some athletes that's the case, right,
Like Michael Jordan is out of his mind and that's
why he's great, is Michael?
Speaker 2 (25:41):
But can I ask you a question, is Michael Jordan
like true? Like you can be high pressure and hold
people accountable, but we don't have to always. You don't
have to be a shitty human like Michael Jordan was
high pressure and high intensity, right, but not.
Speaker 1 (25:54):
And at times a shitty human punched his own teammate,
has gambling issues, can't get the high with out winning
and competing. And I'm a huge Michael Jordan fan, but
there's enough content out there that like, I wouldn't say
always shitty. He's done a lot of good things, but like,
is not capable of just being alive without He used
to literally gamble over whose bags would come out on
(26:15):
the baggage claim carousel first. Interesting, like everything had to
be gamified, so that high of winning, which I wonder
at that quality, I mean that quality very clearly contributed
to why he wanted it more than everyone else and
did what he needed to do.
Speaker 2 (26:29):
I think fear reads a lot of different things. Fear
it can make you like step outside of your own
being because you're so scared of not being great once
you've reached, just reached a certain level, that you will
do anything to keep it. I will say that I
think the problem in the Kitchens is that the example
(26:50):
of male ego bad behavior was promoted and glorified for
far too long, and so once, just like coaching, right,
and so once that kind of was set as being Okay,
I say that very loosely in air quotes. It was
accepted and it was seen that it gave all these
(27:13):
other people permission after to just do the same.
Speaker 1 (27:17):
And almost aspire to that.
Speaker 2 (27:18):
Yeah, it's crazy to me.
Speaker 1 (27:20):
That's what it looks like to be great, right.
Speaker 2 (27:23):
But no, it is one hundred percent possible to be
great and be a great human.
Speaker 1 (27:28):
Yeah, speaking of shitty dudes, Michael Rapaport, Holy shit, I
cannot believe you had to live in the same house
as him and witness him eating. If y'all have not
seen the clips, just google Michael Rapaport eating. And if
you're like, why does Sarah hate Michael Rapaport so much?
I don't have the time to tell you all the reasons.
Some of them became clear on the show, Traders, But
(27:49):
I mean, how many times did he call me to
see you next Tuesday on the internet because he knew
I control his temper and he has oh yeah, major
issues dealing with like sports disagreements and social issues disagreements
without turning into a complete tool. But beside that, no
spoilers keep the ending a secret for those who haven't watched. Overall,
(28:09):
how was that? Traders?
Speaker 2 (28:11):
Experience for you overall Traders experience. I'm glad I did it.
I did it for the love of Top Chef, and
I mean, if you don't know and follow the Emmys
like you can, Top Chef and the Traders historically the
past couple of years have gone head to head or
(28:31):
not head to head, but are in the same Emmy category.
Top Chef loses to the Traders and I lose to Alan.
I was sick losing And at the end of the day,
I don't know what this outcome will bring, but at
the very least I know that I'm doing the things
that I need to do in order to share and
introduce our show to the millions of viewers that are
(28:52):
watching Traders. And so that's why I did it.
Speaker 1 (28:55):
Now, what if Alan coming tries to come on Top
Chef to even the score and make sure that you
don't get a leg up by going on Traders.
Speaker 2 (29:02):
Well, the thing is, I we invited Alan to come
be a guest judge. I would love I would love
nothing more like doors, wide, open, open invitation. I'm pretty
sure our entire production would also say the same thing
year after and after year. You know, I got I
will say it was a pleasure to see how another
show operates. It was a pleasure to watch Alan do
(29:23):
what he does best, and he is an incredible performer,
and overall I walked away with a lot of good friends.
Speaker 1 (29:31):
He seems delightful and the fits he is very delightful. Also,
if there was a if there was an Emmy for
best fits while hosting a reality show. Again, neck and Neck,
like y'all too, are setting different.
Speaker 2 (29:43):
It's like apples and oranges. But still yeah, I would
change both amazing. I think we should change wardrobes. He
could go my style for Traders, and I could go
his for Top Chefer, and we would just really love everything.
Speaker 1 (29:54):
For the Loop, you could pull off a kilt for sure.
I'm not sure about him with that crop top with
our teeny glasses on it that you wore, But to
be fair, he could pull it up. He could do
it just a couple more quick ones. I know I've
kept you too long, but I know you didn't love
the food there. So in terms of learning how other
shows work, I imagine Top Chef prioritizes the food for
(30:14):
the contestants and the judges. Is it true that you
offered them your skills to consult on food for future seasons.
I did.
Speaker 2 (30:21):
I offer to consult without pay. Just pay for me
to get there and put me off in accommodations. My
services would actually be free for like a week. I
would love nothing more than to provide give me a
list of all the things you're working with and let
me come up with some different ways of preparing them.
That's all. They have yet to take me up on it,
(30:42):
but you know, we'll see.
Speaker 1 (30:43):
Yeah, because all you had was a toaster and gummy candy,
and there was always a shortage of salmon and eggs
at breakfast. That's all we heard about.
Speaker 2 (30:52):
That was a very big topic of conversation in the castle,
and I'm not surprised that it made it air because
it was always, yeah, people trying to find their protein. Right.
Speaker 1 (31:02):
So, people who watch traders who want to know this,
do you have a friend or two that you still
keep up with that you made?
Speaker 2 (31:08):
Oh gosh, several a lot of them, Mark Ballas, Eric Nahm,
Johnny Weir, Tera, Lepinski, Lisa Renna, Candice wow Dillard. Honestly,
the majority of people lovely love.
Speaker 1 (31:26):
I love let Lisa Renna's in there, like what a freakin'
reality legend. O g.
Speaker 2 (31:32):
She is hysterical. I, oh, oh my god. And Derinda
and Carolyn the Housewives.
Speaker 1 (31:39):
Oh so you're basically a housewife. You're setting yourself up
for later in life. Real Housewives of Austin, which I
would watch.
Speaker 2 (31:48):
I really enjoyed spending time with them, and I loved
getting to know everybody at face value, not for their
TV persona, but for who they are when you know,
in the context of this game, because I think I
had gone in having been a fan or having seen
everybody on all the things that they do. I'm sure
it word of maybe you know skewed some decision making,
but honestly, like I knew of people, I didn't know people.
Speaker 1 (32:13):
Well.
Speaker 2 (32:14):
I knew Ron from Faster series, but still, like on
a very deeply personal level, I didn't really know anybody.
Speaker 1 (32:19):
Yeah, Ron Funchs was an interesting one on there. I
did not expect his personality out of comedy to be
what it was on that show, just much more sensitive,
much more like don't you don't get to know me
unless I want you to kind of vibes. I didn't
know a lot of people. I honestly watched it for you.
I had watched one season before and then I watched
it this season for you, and it was interesting how
many of them I didn't know from their other shows,
(32:41):
so I was also sort of face value trying to
figure out. But I think what you said about the
winner no spoilers makes a lot of sense because it
was like just didn't really give much away ever, and
always felt pretty consistent, and that makes it so hard
for people to know like what's going on. And it
also really helps if your natural person feeds into that
(33:02):
as opposed to like, there's plenty of other people who
could have been steady as you go, but they don't
lend themselves to like trustworthy, I'm not messing around kind
of person, and the person who one did have that
going for them.
Speaker 2 (33:13):
Yeah, I mean it was such a mind game. You
go in thinking, oh, you know, this is just a game.
I'm going to go have a good time. But you
get in there, you're fully sepquestered. You have nothing nothing
but your own thoughts in this game, and as much
as you know you're not going to really get murdered
or whatever, Like the end of the game feels really
(33:35):
talk about pressure and like turning into somebody that you
didn't know, like I turned into I got fed up.
By the time I reached a certain point in the game,
I got fed up with somebody and I was like enough,
like I lost my patience. I was like, I am tired,
I'm hungry, I miss my wife, and why the f
(33:56):
are you not talking to me anymore? I'm over it?
And so I like, like, I should have just kept
my mouth shut, but I at that certain point I
could not keep my mouth.
Speaker 1 (34:04):
Oh, I don't blame you. Well, that brings me to
my last question. You just threw out the first pitch
into Detroit Tiger's game getting back to her Michigan route.
So I want to know the level of nerves. Okay,
I'm giving you three things to rank Tiger's first pitch.
Top Chef Finale, Final, Cook, Traders round Table vote.
Speaker 2 (34:22):
Ooh, you know Tiger's first pitch being the number one,
because that is something most nervous. The skill set I
didn't know. I don't do that, and my whole family's
watching live. Second I would go Traders Round Table. The
heat was never really on me, so I never felt
like a huge sense of pressure. And the third one
(34:46):
the most calm. I think I've ever been in those
three scenarios, was the Top Chef Final Cook because no
matter at that point, whatever happened, I had made it
to that place and at the end of the day,
all I was doing I was cooking.
Speaker 1 (34:57):
Gosh. I love It's flow state again. It's like, well,
this is I'm supposed to be. So whatever happens, happens,
I'll be fine. Whatever happens, Well, I want to read
you something someone on social wrote me in response to
a post about our Chicago Humanity's interview that I put
up when the new season came out at Zazzi. Zaz said,
it's so incredible that Top Chef had one of the
best TV hosts for over a decade and when she
or the producers decided it was time for a change,
(35:18):
they found someone better, which is true, and it's really incredible.
Holy shit, you're crushing it. So congrats on all the success.
Keep doing all the other shows so we can watch
you in all the other places. Just obviously, such a
big fan of yours, and thanks so much for coming
on and talking sports.
Speaker 2 (35:34):
Thank you. I am a huge fan of yours. By
the way, I love and I told you this last
time we were in person. I love talking to you.
I think you're hysterical, you have to talk about some
cool shit, and I really just generally love being in
your energy. I think it's amazing.
Speaker 1 (35:49):
Big oh, I love it all right. Well, breakfast cast
roles for everyone next time. Thanks again to Kristen for
taking the time. As you could tell, I love talking
to her. And don't forget you can now watch full
length good game interviews on the Iheartwomen's Sports YouTube channel.
Like my conversation with kristin to go subscribe. We got
(36:09):
to take another break. When we return, This Big Citrus
happily lends its name to another Big Citrus. Welcome back slices.
We love that you're listening, but we want you to
get in the game every day too, So here's our
good game play of the day. Follow Kristen on Instagram.
(36:31):
We'll link to her profile in the show notes, and
of course, watch her host this season of Top Chef
on Bravo. New episodes air every Monday at nine thirty
pm Eastern, And don't forget to go check out some
of the other shows on our Iheartwomen's Sports platform. I
had so much fun hanging out with the other hosts
this week, and you should really go check out some
of their shows. We got skateboarding, hoops, tennis and more,
(36:53):
really something for everyone. We always love to hear from you, Slices,
so hit us up on email, good game at wondermediaetwork
dot com, or leave us a voicemail at eight seven
two two four fifty seventy, and don't forget to subscribe,
rate and review. It's easy. Watch one Big Citrus inspiring
another rating two out of two well named things review. Now,
(37:16):
a bunch of you have sent us notes making sure
we're aware of Dominic Orange, a defensive tackle who's hoping
to hear his name called at the upcoming NFL Draft,
and who just happens to be nicknamed Big Citrus. But
only one of you has named a cat after us. Yep,
forget Dominic Orange. We want to give a big shout
out to Slice. Doctor Edie Oliver, the medical director at
(37:39):
Stray Rescue of Saint Louis. She wrote in to let
us know that our show had inspired the perfect name
for a cat in her care Edie wrote quote, I
love catching up on women's sports while I get ready
every morning to go to my job as a veterinarian
at Stray Rescue, a large nonprofit animal rescue in downtown
Saint Louis. One day a few weeks ago, a sassy
orange taby cat came in, and the perfect name dawned
(38:00):
on me, Big Citrus. He's a lovable guy with a
big personality, and I just know he's a women's sports fan.
End quote, y'all. Let me tell you, after seeing photos
of this cat, I think he deserves the title of
Big Citrus even more than we do. He is a
big hunk of orange fur, and in one of the
photos Edy sent, he's mewing so big that I can
(38:22):
almost hear him from Chicago. Sass, Sass is right. Edie's
rescue takes in a lot of animals with existing medical conditions,
and for Big Citrus that included a severe ear infection
that resulted in cauliflower ear, likely due to fighting as astray.
And honestly, it feels right that our namesake has gotten
into a few scraps. I can only assume the other
(38:43):
cats kept talking about protecting women's sports and some great news.
Edie sent us an update on Monday that Big Citrus
has already been adopted. We love to hear it, and
we're certainly hoping that his new humans will keep rocking
his given name and maybe even become fans of our show.
Doctor Edie tell them their new best friend just got
shouted out on a podcast. We'll link to Stray Rescue
(39:04):
of Saint Louis's Instagram in the show notes in case
you want to find us Sassy Tabby of your own. Plus,
we'll put a link to a few photos of Big
Citrus himself on my Instagram. Thanks, Doctor Edie. Now it's
your turn, y'all rate and review. Thanks for listening, See
you tomorrow. Good game, Kristen, Good game, pucker Butt Farms.
We're obsessed you to requiring frozen toilet paper. Please let
(39:29):
me never be in need. Good Game with Sarah Spain
is an iheartwomen's sports production in partnership with Deep Blue
Sports and Entertainment. You can find us on the iHeartRadio app,
Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Production by
Wonder Media Network, our producers are Alex Azzi and Bianca Hillier.
Our executive producers are Christina Everett, Jesse Katz, Jenny Kaplan,
(39:51):
and Emily Rudder. Our editors are Emily Rudder, Lucy Jones,
Britney Martinez and Gianna Palmer. Production assistants from Avery LOFTUS
and I'm Your Host Sarah Spain, Steve Then,
Welcome to a good game with Sarah Spain, where our
faces hurt from smiling so much. After getting to spend
back to back days with our iHeart Women's Sports Podcast,
fam photo shoot, draft Party, Business of Women's Sports Summit,
hell of a time with the Batty Girl Gang. It's Wednesday,
April fifteenth, and speaking of batties, on today's show, we're
skipping the need to know and getting straight to my
(00:21):
interview with Top Chef host and Trader star Kristin kish.
I caught up with her on Monday to talk about
how competitive cooking is like a sport, and how the
physical and mental demands trip up even the best of chefs,
the drama that comes with getting a whole bunch of
really good cooks in the same kitchen, shitty dudes in
Scottish castles, and frozen toilet paper. And I know what
some of you are thinking, Sarah, You're really talking about
(00:44):
cooking on a women's sports podcast. Well, just you wait,
dear slices, or should I say, let us cook? My
very sporting conversation with Kristin is coming up right after
this joining us now. She's the two time Emmy nominated
(01:05):
host of Top Chef and was the winner as a
contestant in season ten. You've also seen her on the
most recent season of Traders and hosting fast foodies thirty
six Hours Restaurants at the End of the World, an
Iron Chef quest for an Iron Legend. A native of Kentwood, Michigan,
she's the founder and head chef of Our Low Gray
Restaurant in Austin, and the New York Times best selling
author of the memoir Accidentally on Purpose. Her fits our
(01:25):
fire and she loves mayonnaise. It's Kristin Kish. I'm Kristin.
Speaker 2 (01:30):
I love you so much.
Speaker 1 (01:32):
Oh, it's great to see you.
Speaker 2 (01:34):
Great to see you.
Speaker 1 (01:35):
The last time we saw each other we were actually
hanging out on stage at Chicago Humanity's Week. We were
talking about your great book, which everyone should go out
and get. And since then you have filmed the whole
season of Traders and filmed the whole season of Top Chef.
So so much to get into. But first, how do
I creatively excuse bringing my foodie friend onto a sports show. Well,
(01:55):
the opening episode of this year's season of Top Chef
was at the Charlotte Motorspace and featured a couple of
NASCAR legends, so sports, and you're wearing a Detroit Tiger's hat,
so we're good.
Speaker 2 (02:08):
We're good. I'm wearing the Detroit Tiger's hat. I recently
threw out the first pitch at a game, so I
recently actually held a ball from sports, and in true passion,
I am wearing where you cannot see right now, sweatpants
sports and athletic socks, sports and some slippers which I
feel like sports people wear on they're often right. And
(02:31):
you're gay, so sports sports, gay lesbian, tall sweatpants and
all the things. Two sizes of suits.
Speaker 1 (02:42):
Perfect. You're a natural, you fit right in. I want
to ask you about that first episode, because you actually
got in one of those cars and took a ride.
Did you feel the need for speed? Did you want
to do it again? Or were you like, that's enough
of that so I.
Speaker 2 (02:55):
Would have done it again. And they gave us the
option to keep going because they had to catch some
more stuff for the camera. But it was about one
hundred and five degrees, so inside the car it was
twenty degrees hotter than that. I was wearing a full
on helmet, which those seas are really heavy for this tall,
thin neck. Of mine, and I was in full glam
(03:15):
heels and clothes that were too tight for me. Not
too tight for me, I will say, my stylists will
not be happy with me clothes that fit me properly,
so full glam. I wasn't going to do it again.
But had I been in this outfit or something slightly
more gay, I absolutely would have.
Speaker 1 (03:32):
Yeah. I mean you climbed out of the car in
a full like crop top with like fancy pants on
like seamlessly. You made it look easy, so we never
would have known you were heating up in there.
Speaker 2 (03:44):
You know.
Speaker 1 (03:44):
It felt like a fitting start to another season of
Top Chef, because the competition really is like a sport
in a lot of ways, like physically and mentally challenging
for the people who do it. Sometimes it requires individual glory.
Sometimes you got to work with a team. You've even
got a contestant this season who occasionally has to sit
out on injured reserve, So that is very sportsy. When
you're looking at people who come out of their kitchen
(04:05):
and into the Top Chef kitchen, like what about making
cooking a sport? Seems to trip them up the most.
Speaker 2 (04:11):
I think the pressure it is it's a different kind
of pressure. When you're inside your kitchen. It's like, I'm
going to try to do some sports things, your analogies.
You know, when you're on your practice team, court field
things with no one's really watching. You're just there exercising
the thing that you know what to do best. And
(04:33):
then all of a sudden, you go play on your
home court and people are watching and it's for rankings,
and then you try to go then to the away team,
and then you have all those people cheering against you.
There's so many different stages of this pressure. And I
think going from your kitchen to national television, competing against
other people, with the pressure of not wanting to disappoint
(04:54):
yourself but your mentors and everybody else rooting for you, you
start to overthink things in ways that you know, I
ever really knew your brain could operate in that way.
Speaker 1 (05:03):
Yeah, And it's interesting because cooking kind of always has
a clock, but like making a table weight is very
different than I didn't get the food on the plate right,
Like everything's just ratcheted up a bit from what's very
natural in the world of being a chef. Do you
think that there's a certain quality that you see that
tends to be common across all the chefs that go
the furthest on the show. Aside from just being a
(05:23):
good cook.
Speaker 2 (05:24):
I think the ability to adapt in a way that
kind of feels like superhuman in a lot of ways.
It's almost this muscle memory and this subconscious thing that
takes over your body and you're just like, you don't
even have to think about how to pivot and adapt
and do something differently. Something goes wrong, You're already on
to plan D, E F. And so those qualities I
(05:48):
feel like that are innately already in you long before
the competition. It is a skill set that you practiced
and honed so many different times in your life without
even realizing it. It's the ones that don't even have
to think about how to do the game.
Speaker 1 (06:02):
It's wild how much that's like sports. It's like flow state. Yes,
it's like I've done this so many times that I'm
just in a state where like you hand me something
new and I'm like, I know what to do with this,
whether that's a last minute shot in a game, or
we've added a new ingredient last minute. It's like the
overthinking let me run this through five different parts of
my brain. First will slow you down and gunk up
(06:24):
the gears. But if you have done it so many
times that it's a natural sort of flowing from one
place to another to get where you need to be.
It just works. And it's wild how those qualities can
translate across so many different spaces. And it's frustrating how
hard that is to teach.
Speaker 2 (06:38):
Even with the reps, you can't teach it. It is
so hard. I feel like it's all the different things
sports or cooking or just life in general, all the
things that you kind of maneuver through life in and
without even taking note your mind and your body is
what do they say, keeping the score and so it
just like falls over time and it happened. Also, there's
(06:59):
a lot of wedding in both things.
Speaker 1 (07:01):
Yeah, that's a lot, a lot, a lot of sweating.
I mean, as the host, you are also sort of
training and preparing for competition. You got to be ready
for long stretches at the table, eating plate after plate
of food. You have to like not spill on your clothes.
You have to you know, not have to run to
the bathroom midway through. You've got to be ready to
eat when the food's go, And do you have secrets
(07:22):
to like prepping your body, either for a season coming
up or a taping day.
Speaker 2 (07:27):
You know, I think prepping my body is secondary to
prepping my mind. I think the mind comes first, you know,
outset like that aside and all the therapy and the
things that I've done to overcome public speaking and social
anxiety and all that stuff. For my physical body, you know,
I do like to, you know, work out and stay
(07:47):
fit and healthy most of the time. But a lot
of it is a simple thing. And Gail taught me
this very first season, eat breakfast.
Speaker 1 (07:57):
You got it.
Speaker 2 (07:58):
You have to put it in co host because if you
do not put a base layer down, and then all
of a sudden you pile on all these different crazy
flavors and things that are maybe sometimes not delicious, or
you go in ravenous. You're screwed. You're absolutely screwed. You
will either end up needing to run away from the
table for a second or falling asleep at the table.
(08:18):
One of the two things is going to happen. So
I always eat breakfast. I choose high calorie, low volume,
so nuts, avocados, mostly nuts and avocados for me. And
hard boiled eggs. Put that base down so it can
catch everything. And then outside of that, I don't drink
a lot of water during the period of time, only
(08:38):
enough to cleanse my palate because I don't want to
fill up on water and I don't want to have
to go to the bathroom, So I dehydrate myself only
to fill myself up with food.
Speaker 1 (08:48):
Right right, and with Josh wine that of course, you're
just pounding.
Speaker 2 (08:54):
Throughout the tear, You're powding throughout that.
Speaker 1 (08:56):
By the end, have you ever been drunk or tipsy
by the time you get to the judging because you
were supposed to be either it was a pairing challenge
or the Josh was poored and you were imbibing.
Speaker 2 (09:08):
So good thing is is Josh has non alcoholic wine
and options, so I typically go for that. However, similarly
to when I competed on Top Chef and now to hosting,
I don't drink alcohol when I'm on camera. Okay, for
many reasons.
Speaker 1 (09:25):
You eat some weird shit, though I do. First of all,
you eat some weird shit, and you are not snooty
about your food. In fact, that's one of the things
that I've been so amazed in getting to know you
in all of our conversations. You eat a lot of
junk food. You like a lot of junk food. You
like a lot of Midwestern classics, like a good old
casse role with like onion strings on top and stuff
like that that I would never What are a few
(09:47):
of your like weird favorites that surprise people who expect
you to have a chef's palette.
Speaker 2 (09:51):
Oh got my entire my entire love of everything trashy
and junkie. You know, as I've gotten older, I've definitely
tamed it down. You know, I do prioritize health and
well being and the longevity of my life, even though
the Internet might prove otherwise when you see it. You know,
in my off in my off time, I do take
(10:12):
care of myself. That being said, one thing maybe I
haven't mentioned yet is breakfast cast role have you had that?
Speaker 1 (10:21):
Is it like a tater tot situation?
Speaker 2 (10:22):
Sort of yes and no. So basically what you do
is you take a package of crescent rolls like the
biscuit mix, and you put it raw on a casserole dish.
Then you put like shredded potatoes, some seasoning, and then
you pour eggs over the top, and then you throw
it in the oven. And what happens magically is it
all separates into three separate layers biscuit, egg and potatoes.
(10:46):
Like it just it separates and rises as it cooks.
Speaker 1 (10:49):
It is.
Speaker 2 (10:50):
It is a breakfast sandwich.
Speaker 1 (10:52):
Of your dreams. I'm in I haven't tried that.
Speaker 2 (10:55):
I will make it for you.
Speaker 1 (10:56):
Yes, okay, next time we hang breakfast role Okay. You
know we talked about the mental pressure in cooking and
people showing up and just being great at what they
do but not being able to figure out how to
do it under these circumstances. It's actually super common for
athletes to have a sports site to get them from
the practice court to the competition. Has the cooking world,
(11:17):
whether the competitive side or just being a top level
chef in life, entered that space yet where people know
that they need that sort of sports psyche But like
cooking sych.
Speaker 2 (11:27):
I don't know, because when you enter being a professional chef,
sometimes the goal and never will cross your path to
even go on television to compete in that kind of arena.
You know, when you choose to be an athlete and
eventually you make it to the top part of your game,
like that is the natural progression that you go. You
are still in like the realm of the thing that
(11:47):
you signed up to do. So I don't know. I
think that there's no preparation that can happen to throw
you onto cooking competition. It's just it is unlike anything
other than that. For me, who never chose a road
to becoming a great athlete but I did play sports
as a kid, is that I never I never could
(12:09):
lock into that skill set because that's not something that
I wanted. The example being I was great at free
throw basketball and during practice and then you threw me
in a game and it was a very important game.
It was middle school, eighth grade, playing on arrival, and
long story short, it gets down to the last like
(12:30):
ten seconds of the game. We're tied, I get fouled.
I go to the line, and where in practice like
just sinking every free throw, I got to the line
and I airball both. That just wasn't It's not a
skill set in me to like come alive during that
real pressure point in cooking, I feel, you know, I
(12:52):
come alive in that kind of arena. Yeah, So it's
just different.
Speaker 1 (12:55):
Also, maybe the wrong sport because I know you as
a kid when you got interested in you used a
tennis racket and some leaves in the backyard to practice
flipping food like a front fan. So maybe you were
just playing the rock sport. Maybe tennis would have been
the one for you.
Speaker 2 (13:09):
Maybe at forty two, I need to go back into
the sports world and find my sport.
Speaker 1 (13:14):
Yeah. Also, forty two is an age where a lot
of women start taking up tennis with the gals.
Speaker 2 (13:19):
So what about pickleball? I could do pickleball?
Speaker 1 (13:21):
Yeah, you could do that for sure. With your long limbs,
you would be a killer. You'd be a killer on
the court, you know. Speaking of sort of like the
sports connection. You won Top Chef, you were the champion.
You stepped up in the moment as a chef when
the pressure was on season ten, which was back in
twenty thirteen. Athletes to have like a pregame ritual or
routine that helps them get in the zone to do
(13:42):
what they're going to do, whether that's mental or physical.
When you did that run all the way to champion
of Top Chef, did you have a pre show routine
that got you like ready for the game as a
as a chef to step up in the pressure moment.
Speaker 2 (13:55):
I did, and on top chef. Back in those days,
the cameras would wake you up. All living in the
same house, and I was like, no camera is gonna
wake me up because I need at least an hour
and a half so I can do what I need
to do. Smoke a pack of cigarettes, get ready to go,
and so my sin, I quit. Did you quit that yet?
(14:15):
It's been seven years. It's been seven years. Good job,
thank you. So I would wake up. I would set
my little alarm clock that I brought in a little
watch because you couldn't bring anything other than that. And
I would wake up and I would sit largely oftentimes
in the dark because it was so early, and I
would sit out on the balcony and the shared condo
in Seattle. I would rip a couple of cigarettes, have
(14:36):
some coffee, put some bottom eye liner on, and like
I was ready to go.
Speaker 1 (14:41):
I love that. You're like, no one's catching me, puffy,
ride still in bed, no way to be out here.
Four cigarettes deep, ready for my day. So for this
season in the Carolinas, if I ask you, without any spoilers,
like what's the best thing you ate this season. What's
the first thing that pops into your head?
Speaker 2 (14:59):
Ooh there was two child there just one challenge already happened.
It was second episode, the chili pepper challenge. We had
two seven cores and then use that got progressively hotter.
I was dreading that like you wouldn't believe, but it
ended up being absolutely delicious. And then I will say
the episode. I don't know when this is gonna come out,
but the barbecue episode, I just hit after hit like
(15:21):
it was just outstanding Carolina Gold credible challenge. They all
really stepped up and it was just it was just
a cool challenge. Just in general.
Speaker 1 (15:30):
The only thing I really miss about eating meat is
that I have to be more creative in finding ways
to eat barbecue sauce now because barbecue sauce is my favorite.
Speaker 2 (15:38):
You don't eat meat?
Speaker 1 (15:39):
Yeah, vegetarian, I'm like like nine years Yeah.
Speaker 2 (15:42):
We had which what how are you getting your protein? Like,
what's your protein of?
Speaker 1 (15:50):
I still have eggs, cottage, cheese, regular cheese, greek yogurt beans.
Speaker 2 (15:57):
Okay, that makes sense. I feel like the deer I
had tofu. I have to cool it on my dairy consumption.
Speaker 1 (16:03):
Yeah, that's the problem. Is most of the protein is dairy,
so you gotta like and then beans aren't always my
friend either, So yeah.
Speaker 2 (16:11):
You're just walking around pick rocket fuel.
Speaker 1 (16:14):
Yeah yeah, but you got you mentioned the hot Pepper challenge.
This was so funny because the peppers were from an
actual place called pucker Butt Farms. Their slogan is like
if it doesn't make your if you don't get a
pucker butt, it's not ours, or something crazy like that.
(16:35):
Did you need a few days of recovery after that one?
Like two full meals of straight up spice?
Speaker 2 (16:41):
Honestly, the chef did such an incredible job at taming
and managing this spice that it was no different than
you know, if I went out for like hot pot
and had too many chili peppers, Like, it was no
different than that. So one of the tips that was
being thrown around during production was the night before the challenge,
(17:03):
everyone was like, put toilet paper in your freezer, and
I was like, that's ridiculous. You guys are ridiculous. I
eat far spicier things in life than these peppers that
these chefs are going to cook with. I didn't put
it in the freezer, and I ended up not needing it.
Speaker 1 (17:18):
So I was okay, toilet paper in the freezer, like
literally because just your butthole's on fire.
Speaker 2 (17:24):
Yes, yeah, okay, I don't know. But oh also on
the table, and we didn't really call it out, but
on the table there are different foods that apparently are
allegedly calm the spice on your palate, one being beef tchercy,
two being dark chocolate, another one being sour candy and
fresh lines. And so we had those on the table
(17:46):
to have.
Speaker 1 (17:47):
I feel like it'd be hard for the later people
if you blew out your palette, you wouldn't maybe give
them as good of a score, even if they might
have had a better plate rut.
Speaker 2 (17:55):
But I will say, when you're dealing with these peppers
from pucker Butt Farms and Ed Curry's breeding of these peppers,
a lot of the peppers have so much nuance and
flavor and of course spice. But it's not The game
wasn't about who can screw over the table of diners.
Speaker 1 (18:10):
First.
Speaker 2 (18:11):
The goal was professional chefs knowing how to tame and
work with flavor profiles that happened to have.
Speaker 1 (18:17):
You and make it good. Yeah. Yeah, the thing that
screwed you over was actually just the greenhouse that you
taped in, not the Oh purse, my god.
Speaker 2 (18:25):
I think TV can like tame sweat somehow. It was
un bearable.
Speaker 1 (18:32):
Think think yeah, y'all didn't look bad.
Speaker 2 (18:35):
Think Houston, Texas August, and then go inside a windowless
box with no air. No, that's what it felt like,
and then eat a bunch of peppers.
Speaker 1 (18:47):
Have you ever had a terrible reaction to, like a
challenge or a plate of food on the show, maybe
even something you didn't know your body wouldn't like, and
then later you're like, Okay, well that good to know. Yes.
Speaker 2 (18:58):
My very first season filming in Wisconsin quick Fired. Early
on in the season, it was cherries, and so I've
my whole life been allergic to raw stone fruits. My
lips swell up, it messes with my stomach. So cherries plumps, peaches,
et cetera. When they're cooked. I put the mane. And
(19:18):
so the night before the challenge, I tried like two
or three raw cherries, and I was like, oh, maybe
I'm cured. But when you have fourteen dishes of cherries
in different variations of dunness, at the end of it,
I was delivering the elimination challenge, because you go right
from judging to delivering the next bit. I was there
(19:39):
and I was full breakoup sweat like. They had to
stop down and I had to blot myself and get
retouched up because I was just profusely sweating. My body
was not happy. And then I took some medicine and
then I retired for the rest.
Speaker 1 (19:55):
Yeah, I'm picturing like Hitch where his face gets like
Will Smith's face gets like giant, his lips and his eyes.
Speaker 2 (20:01):
And it is you know, yes, Hitch. It was more bridesmaids.
Speaker 1 (20:05):
Oh oh no, yeah, oh no, rip your hotel room
or apartment.
Speaker 2 (20:12):
Okay, all right, I won't do that again.
Speaker 1 (20:15):
We got to take a break more with Kristen Kish
right after this. This is the twenty third season of
the show, which is crazy, and I feel like it
manages to present new challenges and keep things interesting and
come up with really fascinating ways to teach us about
(20:35):
cultures and food and places without doing the very frustrating
reality trick, which is like artificially upping the drama every
year and then eventually just jumping the shark. Because people
don't really want to watch people fight. They want to
watch them cook food, right, So contestants don't have to
like make their whole meal blindfolded, they don't have to
arm wrestle for ingredients. Like there's a couple little things,
but they're fun. It really keeps the cooking at the center.
(20:58):
Have you ever heard if there's any debate at the
top about adding those gimmicky elements or has anyone had
to push back on the idea that you need to
add those to keep people watching.
Speaker 2 (21:06):
I think the only people that sometimes will hear it
from are the fans who have gotten accustomed to that
kind of television, especially on Bravo. On Bravo, it is
high drama. There's fights, these relationships that are just blowing
up like it is. It makes you feel something, as
opposed to when you watch Top Chef. You're watching and
(21:26):
you feel things, but you're actually watching professional people do
their job. And so there's never really been especially since
moving away from those early seasons of high drama on
Top Chef, there's never ever really been a conversation of
being like, we should go back to that. We just
need the audience to understand that that's not that kind
of show and it's not going to happen.
Speaker 1 (21:47):
It's more enjoyable to watch y'all root for each other
too than early on when they try to get you
to talk about each other in confessionals.
Speaker 2 (21:53):
Well, and also the thing is is if you think
if we went back to that kind of manufactured, high
personal drama, you wouldn't get chefs at a very very
high level of cooking because they care too much about
their career. So if we're going to do Top Chef,
you want the best chefs, you don't want the best
drama makers. And so those two things, yeah, they don't
work together. Also, I feel like there is natural drama
(22:17):
that's going to happen, Like, not everyone is going to
get along, not everyone is going to make it to
the plate. There's things that are going to happen that
will give you that drama like you know in the
cooking world without being nasty.
Speaker 1 (22:30):
Yeah, we got plenty of that. We've got you know.
I mentioned Jennifer having to cook through a shoulder injury,
Nana who had a panic attack in the premiere episode. Man,
you so calmly and confidently tended to her. It was
such a beautiful moment. Why do you think that came
so naturally to you to just immediately be like, oh,
I'm going over there.
Speaker 2 (22:50):
You know. First off, I have to say I'm incredibly
grateful that I had that vantage point of her, because
if all that happened behind the kitchen, like we can't
react to anything, we don't. We are, and I've said
it till I'm blue in the face a million times over,
we are reality television. Like it's not TV made for
manufactured reality, and so if we never saw that, nothing
(23:12):
would have ever come of it. When she was coming
out the way my seat was positioned, I was the
only person to see her coming out of that kitchen,
and so I didn't know what happened in the kitchen,
her starting this the beginning stage of a panic attack.
But by the time I saw her, there's one of
two things that was going to happen. She was either
(23:32):
going to drop her plates or she was going to
pass out because she was not breathing properly. And I
was like, in five seconds sitting there, I was like,
I'm not going to let either one of those things happen. Don't.
I don't give a shit like it. My goal right
now is to make sure she gets in front of
us to tell us what she made.
Speaker 1 (23:50):
That's it.
Speaker 2 (23:52):
And I don't know without thinking, Like we talk about
the chef's pivoting, and you just naturally react to the
things around you just saw someone in distress, and I
once I saw it, I can't I couldn't ignore it.
And so for I don't know, five or six minutes,
we were doing like I was doing breathing exercises with
her because she was not she wasn't breathing properly. Yeah,
(24:16):
and so I'm so proud of her for getting to
the head of that table presenting her dish, and she
made it through.
Speaker 1 (24:23):
Yeah, it was a much better outcome for her, even
though she struggled later in later episodes, like she still
was able to leave and have everyone sort of understand
her struggles as opposed to the way also it was edited.
Certainly was gave her grace And you could have instead
edited that to make it as salacious and outrageous as
possible and have her leaving ashamed. And I think she
probably still felt disappointment and how her time on the
(24:45):
show went, but it was handled in a really professional way,
which I liked. You know. I wonder if the sort
of high stakes I mean, even when it's on a
competition show. Let's say you're in a top level kitchen
and you're trying to get a Michelin star. The difference
might be like how the plate is cleaned off or
how you cut a carrot. And I wonder if that
pressure is what contributes to so many stories of chefs
(25:08):
that are toxic, Like we're just seeing right now Noma
chef Rene reord Zeppi's legacy falling apart over you know,
physical and emotional abuse, and there have been countless stories
like that. Is there a quality or even maybe like
a potential for toxicity in the same people who are
also built to be great in the kitchen? Like is
there something that goes handed? Is it hard to be
(25:29):
the very best at the highest level and be completely
normal and regulated?
Speaker 2 (25:35):
You know?
Speaker 1 (25:35):
I think because for some athletes that's the case, right,
Like Michael Jordan is out of his mind and that's
why he's great, is Michael?
Speaker 2 (25:41):
But can I ask you a question, is Michael Jordan
like true? Like you can be high pressure and hold
people accountable, but we don't have to always. You don't
have to be a shitty human like Michael Jordan was
high pressure and high intensity, right, but not.
Speaker 1 (25:54):
And at times a shitty human punched his own teammate,
has gambling issues, can't get the high with out winning
and competing. And I'm a huge Michael Jordan fan, but
there's enough content out there that like, I wouldn't say
always shitty. He's done a lot of good things, but like,
is not capable of just being alive without He used
to literally gamble over whose bags would come out on
(26:15):
the baggage claim carousel first. Interesting, like everything had to
be gamified, so that high of winning, which I wonder
at that quality, I mean that quality very clearly contributed
to why he wanted it more than everyone else and
did what he needed to do.
Speaker 2 (26:29):
I think fear reads a lot of different things. Fear
it can make you like step outside of your own
being because you're so scared of not being great once
you've reached, just reached a certain level, that you will
do anything to keep it. I will say that I
think the problem in the Kitchens is that the example
(26:50):
of male ego bad behavior was promoted and glorified for
far too long, and so once, just like coaching, right,
and so once that kind of was set as being Okay,
I say that very loosely in air quotes. It was
accepted and it was seen that it gave all these
(27:13):
other people permission after to just do the same.
Speaker 1 (27:17):
And almost aspire to that.
Speaker 2 (27:18):
Yeah, it's crazy to me.
Speaker 1 (27:20):
That's what it looks like to be great, right.
Speaker 2 (27:23):
But no, it is one hundred percent possible to be
great and be a great human.
Speaker 1 (27:28):
Yeah, speaking of shitty dudes, Michael Rapaport, Holy shit, I
cannot believe you had to live in the same house
as him and witness him eating. If y'all have not
seen the clips, just google Michael Rapaport eating. And if
you're like, why does Sarah hate Michael Rapaport so much?
I don't have the time to tell you all the reasons.
Some of them became clear on the show, Traders, But
(27:49):
I mean, how many times did he call me to
see you next Tuesday on the internet because he knew
I control his temper and he has oh yeah, major
issues dealing with like sports disagreements and social issues disagreements
without turning into a complete tool. But beside that, no
spoilers keep the ending a secret for those who haven't watched. Overall,
(28:09):
how was that? Traders?
Speaker 2 (28:11):
Experience for you overall Traders experience. I'm glad I did it.
I did it for the love of Top Chef, and
I mean, if you don't know and follow the Emmys
like you can, Top Chef and the Traders historically the
past couple of years have gone head to head or
(28:31):
not head to head, but are in the same Emmy category.
Top Chef loses to the Traders and I lose to Alan.
I was sick losing And at the end of the day,
I don't know what this outcome will bring, but at
the very least I know that I'm doing the things
that I need to do in order to share and
introduce our show to the millions of viewers that are
(28:52):
watching Traders. And so that's why I did it.
Speaker 1 (28:55):
Now, what if Alan coming tries to come on Top
Chef to even the score and make sure that you
don't get a leg up by going on Traders.
Speaker 2 (29:02):
Well, the thing is, I we invited Alan to come
be a guest judge. I would love I would love
nothing more like doors, wide, open, open invitation. I'm pretty
sure our entire production would also say the same thing
year after and after year. You know, I got I
will say it was a pleasure to see how another
show operates. It was a pleasure to watch Alan do
(29:23):
what he does best, and he is an incredible performer,
and overall I walked away with a lot of good friends.
Speaker 1 (29:31):
He seems delightful and the fits he is very delightful. Also,
if there was a if there was an Emmy for
best fits while hosting a reality show. Again, neck and Neck,
like y'all too, are setting different.
Speaker 2 (29:43):
It's like apples and oranges. But still yeah, I would
change both amazing. I think we should change wardrobes. He
could go my style for Traders, and I could go
his for Top Chefer, and we would just really love everything.
Speaker 1 (29:54):
For the Loop, you could pull off a kilt for sure.
I'm not sure about him with that crop top with
our teeny glasses on it that you wore, But to
be fair, he could pull it up. He could do
it just a couple more quick ones. I know I've
kept you too long, but I know you didn't love
the food there. So in terms of learning how other
shows work, I imagine Top Chef prioritizes the food for
(30:14):
the contestants and the judges. Is it true that you
offered them your skills to consult on food for future seasons.
I did.
Speaker 2 (30:21):
I offer to consult without pay. Just pay for me
to get there and put me off in accommodations. My
services would actually be free for like a week. I
would love nothing more than to provide give me a
list of all the things you're working with and let
me come up with some different ways of preparing them.
That's all. They have yet to take me up on it,
(30:42):
but you know, we'll see.
Speaker 1 (30:43):
Yeah, because all you had was a toaster and gummy candy,
and there was always a shortage of salmon and eggs
at breakfast. That's all we heard about.
Speaker 2 (30:52):
That was a very big topic of conversation in the castle,
and I'm not surprised that it made it air because
it was always, yeah, people trying to find their protein. Right.
Speaker 1 (31:02):
So, people who watch traders who want to know this,
do you have a friend or two that you still
keep up with that you made?
Speaker 2 (31:08):
Oh gosh, several a lot of them, Mark Ballas, Eric Nahm,
Johnny Weir, Tera, Lepinski, Lisa Renna, Candice wow Dillard. Honestly,
the majority of people lovely love.
Speaker 1 (31:26):
I love let Lisa Renna's in there, like what a freakin'
reality legend. O g.
Speaker 2 (31:32):
She is hysterical. I, oh, oh my god. And Derinda
and Carolyn the Housewives.
Speaker 1 (31:39):
Oh so you're basically a housewife. You're setting yourself up
for later in life. Real Housewives of Austin, which I
would watch.
Speaker 2 (31:48):
I really enjoyed spending time with them, and I loved
getting to know everybody at face value, not for their
TV persona, but for who they are when you know,
in the context of this game, because I think I
had gone in having been a fan or having seen
everybody on all the things that they do. I'm sure
it word of maybe you know skewed some decision making,
but honestly, like I knew of people, I didn't know people.
Speaker 1 (32:13):
Well.
Speaker 2 (32:14):
I knew Ron from Faster series, but still, like on
a very deeply personal level, I didn't really know anybody.
Speaker 1 (32:19):
Yeah, Ron Funchs was an interesting one on there. I
did not expect his personality out of comedy to be
what it was on that show, just much more sensitive,
much more like don't you don't get to know me
unless I want you to kind of vibes. I didn't
know a lot of people. I honestly watched it for you.
I had watched one season before and then I watched
it this season for you, and it was interesting how
many of them I didn't know from their other shows,
(32:41):
so I was also sort of face value trying to
figure out. But I think what you said about the
winner no spoilers makes a lot of sense because it
was like just didn't really give much away ever, and
always felt pretty consistent, and that makes it so hard
for people to know like what's going on. And it
also really helps if your natural person feeds into that
(33:02):
as opposed to like, there's plenty of other people who
could have been steady as you go, but they don't
lend themselves to like trustworthy, I'm not messing around kind
of person, and the person who one did have that
going for them.
Speaker 2 (33:13):
Yeah, I mean it was such a mind game. You
go in thinking, oh, you know, this is just a game.
I'm going to go have a good time. But you
get in there, you're fully sepquestered. You have nothing nothing
but your own thoughts in this game, and as much
as you know you're not going to really get murdered
or whatever, Like the end of the game feels really
(33:35):
talk about pressure and like turning into somebody that you
didn't know, like I turned into I got fed up.
By the time I reached a certain point in the game,
I got fed up with somebody and I was like enough,
like I lost my patience. I was like, I am tired,
I'm hungry, I miss my wife, and why the f
(33:56):
are you not talking to me anymore? I'm over it?
And so I like, like, I should have just kept
my mouth shut, but I at that certain point I
could not keep my mouth.
Speaker 1 (34:04):
Oh, I don't blame you. Well, that brings me to
my last question. You just threw out the first pitch
into Detroit Tiger's game getting back to her Michigan route.
So I want to know the level of nerves. Okay,
I'm giving you three things to rank Tiger's first pitch.
Top Chef Finale, Final, Cook, Traders round Table vote.
Speaker 2 (34:22):
Ooh, you know Tiger's first pitch being the number one,
because that is something most nervous. The skill set I
didn't know. I don't do that, and my whole family's
watching live. Second I would go Traders Round Table. The
heat was never really on me, so I never felt
like a huge sense of pressure. And the third one
(34:46):
the most calm. I think I've ever been in those
three scenarios, was the Top Chef Final Cook because no
matter at that point, whatever happened, I had made it
to that place and at the end of the day,
all I was doing I was cooking.
Speaker 1 (34:57):
Gosh. I love It's flow state again. It's like, well,
this is I'm supposed to be. So whatever happens, happens,
I'll be fine. Whatever happens, Well, I want to read
you something someone on social wrote me in response to
a post about our Chicago Humanity's interview that I put
up when the new season came out at Zazzi. Zaz said,
it's so incredible that Top Chef had one of the
best TV hosts for over a decade and when she
or the producers decided it was time for a change,
(35:18):
they found someone better, which is true, and it's really incredible.
Holy shit, you're crushing it. So congrats on all the success.
Keep doing all the other shows so we can watch
you in all the other places. Just obviously, such a
big fan of yours, and thanks so much for coming
on and talking sports.
Speaker 2 (35:34):
Thank you. I am a huge fan of yours. By
the way, I love and I told you this last
time we were in person. I love talking to you.
I think you're hysterical, you have to talk about some
cool shit, and I really just generally love being in
your energy. I think it's amazing.
Speaker 1 (35:49):
Big oh, I love it all right. Well, breakfast cast
roles for everyone next time. Thanks again to Kristen for
taking the time. As you could tell, I love talking
to her. And don't forget you can now watch full
length good game interviews on the Iheartwomen's Sports YouTube channel.
Like my conversation with kristin to go subscribe. We got
(36:09):
to take another break. When we return, This Big Citrus
happily lends its name to another Big Citrus. Welcome back slices.
We love that you're listening, but we want you to
get in the game every day too, So here's our
good game play of the day. Follow Kristen on Instagram.
(36:31):
We'll link to her profile in the show notes, and
of course, watch her host this season of Top Chef
on Bravo. New episodes air every Monday at nine thirty
pm Eastern, And don't forget to go check out some
of the other shows on our Iheartwomen's Sports platform. I
had so much fun hanging out with the other hosts
this week, and you should really go check out some
of their shows. We got skateboarding, hoops, tennis and more,
(36:53):
really something for everyone. We always love to hear from you, Slices,
so hit us up on email, good game at wondermediaetwork
dot com, or leave us a voicemail at eight seven
two two four fifty seventy, and don't forget to subscribe,
rate and review. It's easy. Watch one Big Citrus inspiring
another rating two out of two well named things review. Now,
(37:16):
a bunch of you have sent us notes making sure
we're aware of Dominic Orange, a defensive tackle who's hoping
to hear his name called at the upcoming NFL Draft,
and who just happens to be nicknamed Big Citrus. But
only one of you has named a cat after us. Yep,
forget Dominic Orange. We want to give a big shout
out to Slice. Doctor Edie Oliver, the medical director at
(37:39):
Stray Rescue of Saint Louis. She wrote in to let
us know that our show had inspired the perfect name
for a cat in her care Edie wrote quote, I
love catching up on women's sports while I get ready
every morning to go to my job as a veterinarian
at Stray Rescue, a large nonprofit animal rescue in downtown
Saint Louis. One day a few weeks ago, a sassy
orange taby cat came in, and the perfect name dawned
(38:00):
on me, Big Citrus. He's a lovable guy with a
big personality, and I just know he's a women's sports fan.
End quote, y'all. Let me tell you, after seeing photos
of this cat, I think he deserves the title of
Big Citrus even more than we do. He is a
big hunk of orange fur, and in one of the
photos Edy sent, he's mewing so big that I can
(38:22):
almost hear him from Chicago. Sass, Sass is right. Edie's
rescue takes in a lot of animals with existing medical conditions,
and for Big Citrus that included a severe ear infection
that resulted in cauliflower ear, likely due to fighting as astray.
And honestly, it feels right that our namesake has gotten
into a few scraps. I can only assume the other
(38:43):
cats kept talking about protecting women's sports and some great news.
Edie sent us an update on Monday that Big Citrus
has already been adopted. We love to hear it, and
we're certainly hoping that his new humans will keep rocking
his given name and maybe even become fans of our show.
Doctor Edie tell them their new best friend just got
shouted out on a podcast. We'll link to Stray Rescue
(39:04):
of Saint Louis's Instagram in the show notes in case
you want to find us Sassy Tabby of your own. Plus,
we'll put a link to a few photos of Big
Citrus himself on my Instagram. Thanks, Doctor Edie. Now it's
your turn, y'all rate and review. Thanks for listening, See
you tomorrow. Good game, Kristen, Good game, pucker Butt Farms.
We're obsessed you to requiring frozen toilet paper. Please let
(39:29):
me never be in need. Good Game with Sarah Spain
is an iheartwomen's sports production in partnership with Deep Blue
Sports and Entertainment. You can find us on the iHeartRadio app,
Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Production by
Wonder Media Network, our producers are Alex Azzi and Bianca Hillier.
Our executive producers are Christina Everett, Jesse Katz, Jenny Kaplan,
(39:51):
and Emily Rudder. Our editors are Emily Rudder, Lucy Jones,
Britney Martinez and Gianna Palmer. Production assistants from Avery LOFTUS
and I'm Your Host Sarah Spain, Steve Then,
Host
Sarah Spain
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