The Sporkful

Dan and his wife Janie are both white and Jewish, both raised in the New York area. In many ways it's an easy fit. But not so much with food, because Janie grew up kosher and Dan didn't. In this episode, they talk about navigating food tension in their relationship and ask Janie's mom how she feels about the choices they've made.

This episode originally aired on August 10, 2017, and was produced by Dan Pashman, Anne Saini, and Dan ...

The writer Aymann Ismail, a practicing Muslim, grew up not eating pork. But as he got older, he became curious about why eating pork was a line that even less observant Muslims wouldn’t cross. So when a new loophole product hit the market, Aymann was faced with a choice — one that brought up questions of faith, tradition, and whether changing your food habits changes who you are.

Aymann’s memoir is Becoming Baba: Fatherhood, Faith, ...

Dan’s dreams come true when he visits The Simpsons writers’ room to talk about the role food plays on the show and behind the scenes. Turns out the writers are just as obsessed with food as all of the show’s food jokes suggest. Plus, Simpsons creator Matt Groening explains how new technologies have changed the show’s food jokes over time.

This episode originally aired on August 13, 2018, and May 30, 2022, and was produced by Dan Pas...

This week, The Sporkful plays matchmaker! We put out the call for Sporkful listeners looking for love, and many of you responded. We used our proprietary algorithm (i.e. a producer looking at a spreadsheet) to set up and record two blind dates — one in New York and one in Chicago. Will their love smolder like a kebab on a hot grill? Or will they repel each other, like oil and vinegar in a salad dressing that hasn’t been properly em...

When Gustavo “Goose” Alvarez was 18, he was sent to prison for the first time. When he arrived, the other incarcerated men wanted to know if they could trust him — so they handed him a plate of cheesy tacos, and got to know him over that shared meal. From there, Goose learned all kinds of prison cooking tips, including how to use razor blades to boil water and the recipe for a coffee drink called a “Cadillac.” This week Goose share...

Michael Ian Black and Tom Cavanagh are great comedic actors and friends who love to analyze snacks in extreme detail on their podcast, Mike and Tom Eat Snacks. In this special crossover episode ahead of the Super Bowl, Dan tells Mike and Tom about the time his overly ambitious Super Bowl snack idea went very wrong. They also get into a fiery debate about chicken wings and put different shapes of tortilla chips to a taste test.

The S...

Dan gives up the hosting chair and becomes a contestant in our most popular (and only) Sporkful game show, 2 Chefs And A Lie! The game is simple. Dan talks with three “chefs.” Two are real, and one is a faker with a made-up resume. Dan gets five questions per chef to determine who’s legit, and who doesn’t know their bass from their elbow. The best part: You can play along! Can you spot the fake chef?

This episode originally aired on...

Veteran comic Tom Papa’s love of food began as a kid, when his dad recruited him for over-the-top food challenges — including eating a massive steak that won Tom a t-shirt. As an adult he became obsessed with bread baking after his daughter gave him a sourdough starter for Christmas. Tom explains how baking bread is like comedy, and what his fridge says about his current stage of life. Plus, he and Dan indulge in one of Tom’s favor...

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

Elle once said that a food stylist’s job is to tell the story of the food — and in her work on shows for Bravo, Food Network, and America’s Test Kitchen, she went to great lengths to do just that. Combing through boxes of cereal for the best-looking cornflakes? Check. Throwing ice cubes across the room to c...

Jacques Pépin just turned 90, and he’s spent his career defying expectations. By 1958, at the age of 23, he had cooked for three French presidents. But he left that life to work at a high-end restaurant in New York, then gave that up to cook at Howard Johnson’s, making food for the masses. After a life-altering accident, Jacques found his next love: teaching other people how to cook. By the early ‘90s he was one of America’s best-k...

The Sporkful Family Food Court is back in session. A husband and wife debate when to eat movie popcorn, and a mother and daughter argue over whether eating salad dressing makes you an adult. 

This episode originally aired on February 8, 2016, and was produced by Dan Pashman and Anne Saini, and enginnered by Bill O'Neill. The Sporkful team now includes Dan Pashman, Emma Morgenstern, Andres O'Hara, Kameel Stanley, and Jared O'Connell....

French podcaster Samia Basille loves going to the movies. And she enjoys popcorn. But she doesn't think the two should ever be combined. (Many other French people feel the same way.) When Samia spent a few months living in New York, it left her wondering: Why do Americans insist on chowing down on popcorn while watching a movie? This simple question sent her on a quest to understand the history of popcorn in both the U.S. and Franc...

We follow one woman's attempt to recover from an eating disorder and hear what it’s like to wake up each morning and have to fight a battle not only with food, but more importantly, with yourself. It's a rare look inside one person’s struggle. We also hear from her husband and explore her decision, early in recovery, to become a baker.

If anything this episode sounds familiar, you can get more information and help from the National ...

Should you rinse ice before you pour a carbonated drink over it? What’s the best way to store fresh bread? And is there a reason to drink room temp water between bites of ice cream? Daniel Gritzer, editorial director of Serious Eats, and Swetha Sivakumar, who writes a food science Substack, join Dan to answer your food science questions. They also help Grace in Minneapolis, whose fresh bread dispute is threatening her marriage. Put...

It’s Elkhart, Indiana, 2001. Two inches of Heather Coleman's turkey club disappear from her office fridge. The thief is nowhere to be found. And Heather’s life will never be the same. In this tribute to the hit podcast Serial, we investigate the shocking true story of an office fridge food theft.

This episode originally aired on March 12, 2015 and May 9. 2022. It was produced by Dan Pashman, Anne Saini, Johanna Mayer and Andres O'Ha...

Stanley Tucci nearly broke the internet in 2021 when he made a Negroni on Instagram. But long before that, the award-winning actor built his career around his love of food. He created the iconic food film Big Night, he’s written best-selling cookbooks, and now he eats his way through Italy on the show Tucci In Italy. In 2021 he released a memoir, Taste: My Life Through Food, which includes the revelation that a few years ago he bat...

“So often when we talk about veganism, we don't imagine Black people,” says Bryant Terry, the James Beard Award-winning cookbook author, chef, and educator. But Bryant sees veganism as deeply rooted in Black communities and traditions. And, he points out, veganism is growing faster among Black Americans than among any other group. After publishing another popular vegan cookbook in 2020, Bryant released a book in 2021 that he edited...

What foods do Sporkful listeners resolve to eat more of in the new year, and why? And what’s Dan’s New Year’s food resolution for 2026? All is revealed in our annual year-end spectacular. We also replay one of the Sporkful crew’s favorite episodes of the year. Scott Wiener, founder of Scott’s Pizza Tours, has made a name for himself as one of the most knowledgeable and passionate pizza experts in America. (He has the Guinness Recor...

This episode is chock full of strategies for making your way in one of the world's most barren food wastelands. We cover both the airport and airplane, short domestic flights and long haul international flights, snacks, entrees, and more. We'll tell you how to mix your cocktail, how to use your pretzels to improve your other food, how to get served first, and how to end up with enough beverages to get you to your destination.

This e...