The Sporkful

A few weeks ago, Cracker Barrel announced it was changing its logo — removing the old man in overalls and the barrel, updating the font, and removing the words “Old Country Store.” Longtime Cracker Barrel fans went nuts, decrying the “sterile” look. Conservative commentators tied the change to a “DEI regime” and called the new logo “woke.” Even the president weighed in, and within a week Cracker Barrel abandoned the change. But it turns out this recent issue is just the latest in a long history of controversies at Cracker Barrel. This week we’re telling the whole story of the chain, with the help of historian Anthony Stanonis. In the process, we’ll try to understand why Cracker Barrel keeps finding itself at the center of political storms in America.The Sporkful production team includes Dan Pashman, Emma Morgenstern, Andres O’Hara, Kameel Stanley, and Jared O'Connell. Publishing by Shantel Holder.Right now, Sporkful listeners can get three months free of the SiriusXM app by going to siriusxm.com/sporkful. Get all your favorite podcasts, more than 200 ad-free music channels curated by genre and era, and live sports coverage with the SiriusXM app. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

This week, we’re ringing in fall tailgating season with a barbecue, featuring three different cuts of pork: ribs, pork chops, and bratwurst. The grillmaster in charge of it all is Jimmy Tchinnis, owner and executive chef at Swallow Kitchen and Cocktails and L’uccello Pizza and Italian Fare in Greenlawn, NY. Jimmy started out cooking in high-end restaurants in New York City before eventually realizing that he wanted to own smaller neighborhood restaurants that serve the community. Jimmy tells Dan about questioning his decision to go into restaurant work and what it took to gain the confidence to create his own menu. Then Jimmy cooks up a pork feast, including tangy grilled back ribs, habanero and honey pork chops, and garlic butter grilled sausages. This episode is sponsored by the National Pork Board. The Sporkful production team includes Dan Pashman, Emma Morgenstern, Andres O’Hara, Kameel Stanley, and Jared O'Connell, with production on this episode by Max Miller. Publishing by Shantel Holder.Right now, Sporkful listeners can get three months free of the SiriusXM app by going to siriusxm.com/sporkful. Get all your favorite podcasts, more than 200 ad-free music channels curated by genre and era, and live sports coverage with the SiriusXM app. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

This week’s show is a raucous Korean-style night out, all on a weekday afternoon. Dan heads to Orion Bar in Brooklyn to learn how to drink like a Korean with Irene Yoo and Peter Kim. Irene is the owner of Orion Bar and author of Soju Party, a book of drink and food recipes that’s also a guide to Korean drinking culture. She shows Dan some drinking games and explains the importance of never pouring your own drink. Then Peter Kim joins the party and cooks up some ramen dishes from his new cookbook, Instant Ramen Kitchen.Catch Dan in conversation with Peter tomorrow night, September 9 at 7pm, at Yu & Me Books in NYC. And check out Peter’s new project, The Infinite Table.The Sporkful production team includes Dan Pashman, Emma Morgenstern, Andres O’Hara, Kameel Stanley, and Jared O'Connell. Publishing by Shantel Holder.Transcript available at www.sporkful.com.Right now, Sporkful listeners can get three months free of the SiriusXM app by going to siriusxm.com/sporkful. Get all your favorite podcasts, more than 200 ad-free music channels curated by genre and era, and live sports coverage with the SiriusXM app. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Best-selling author Samantha Irby specializes in wringing comedy out of her own personal tragedies. Among her favorite topics: poop (she’s got Crohn’s disease), depression (which she also has), and sex. Throughout her writing, food is a recurring character. You can often gauge where she's at in life by what she's eating at the time. This week she takes us from the Oatmeal Creme Pies that got her through a troubled childhood, to an unforgettable moment with a glazed doughnut when she was in her 20s, to the fights she now has with her wife over condiments. And we ask her: What do you do when the same foods that bring you emotional comfort make you sick?This episode originally aired on May 10, 2020, and was produced by Dan Pashman, Emma Morgenstern, Andres O'Hara, and Julia Shu, edited by Tracey Samuelson, and mixed by Jared O'Connell. The Sporkful team now includes Dan Pashman, Emma Morgenstern, Andres O'Hara, Kameel Stanley, and Jared O'Connell. This update was produced by Gianna Palmer. Publishing by Shantel Holder.Every Friday, we reach into our deep freezer and reheat an episode to serve up to you. We're calling these our Reheats. If you have a show you want reheated, send us an email or voice memo at [email protected], and include your name, your location, which episode, and why.Transcript available at www.sporkful.com.Right now, Sporkful listeners can get three months free of the SiriusXM app by going to siriusxm.com/sporkful. Get all your favorite podcasts, more than 200 ad-free music channels curated by genre and era, and live sports coverage with the SiriusXM app. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Antoni Porowski wasn’t the obvious choice to be the food expert on Queer Eye — he’s not a chef and he has no formal culinary training. When the show debuted in 2018, many people asked, “Can this guy actually cook?” Not the most reassuring reaction for Antoni, who already struggled with impostor syndrome. In the years since, he’s alternated between trying to prove his haters wrong, and trying to stop worrying about what others think. Where is he now with these internal battles? Antoni also reveals his struggles with body image, his secrets for a good salad, and his hot takes on pierogi.This episode originally aired on September 13, 2021, and was produced by Dan Pashman, Emma Morgenstern, Andres O’Hara, Tracey Samuelson, and Jared O’Connell. The Sporkful production team now includes Dan Pashman, Emma Morgenstern, Andres O’Hara, Kameel Stanley, and Jared O'Connell.Right now, Sporkful listeners can get three months free of the SiriusXM app by going to siriusxm.com/sporkful. Get all your favorite podcasts, more than 200 ad-free music channels curated by genre and era, and live sports coverage with the SiriusXM app. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

What should you cook for breakfast the morning after? How can couples share power in the kitchen without driving each other crazy? We talk food and relationships with Dan Savage, who writes the sex advice column Savage Love and hosts the podcast Savage Lovecast.This episode originally aired on February 4, 2019, and was produced by Dan Pashman, Anne Saini, Ngofeen Mputubwele, Gianna Palmer, and Jared O'Connell. The Sporkful team now includes Dan Pashman, Emma Morgenstern, Andres O'Hara, Kameel Stanley, and Jared O'Connell. This update was produced by Gianna Palmer. Every Friday, we reach into our deep freezer and reheat an episode to serve up to you. We're calling these our Reheats. If you have a show you want reheated, send us an email or voice memo at [email protected], and include your name, your location, which episode, and why.Right now, Sporkful listeners can get three months free of the SiriusXM app by going to siriusxm.com/sporkful. Get all your favorite podcasts, more than 200 ad-free music channels curated by genre and era, and live sports coverage with the SiriusXM app. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Dan Pelosi and Negin Farsad join Dan to settle your food disputes! One couple can’t agree on when they should take the first bite of a meal: when the food is fresh and piping hot, or once they’re sitting down at the table? Another couple struggles over how to reheat leftovers to maximize flavor and minimize mess. Plus, our guests share their hottest food takes about the best recipe for cupcakes and a taboo ingredient in marinara.Dan Pelosi’s new book is Let’s Party, and Negin Farsad’s podcast is Fake The Nation. You can watch Negin’s TED Talk here.Check out the new Cravings by Chrissy Teigen pasta sauces, including the set with Dan Pashman’s quattrotini pasta shape!The Sporkful production team includes Dan Pashman, Emma Morgenstern, Andres O’Hara, Kameel Stanley, and Jared O'Connell.Right now, Sporkful listeners can get three months free of the SiriusXM app by going to siriusxm.com/sporkful. Get all your favorite podcasts, more than 200 ad-free music channels curated by genre and era, and live sports coverage with the SiriusXM app. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Could listening to The Sporkful be the fertile soil out of which true love grows? We put out the call for Sporkful listeners looking for love, and hundreds of you responded. This week, we listen in on two blind Zoom dates that resulted from our extremely unscientific matchmaking. Is The Sporkful enough of a spark to ignite a grease fire of passion for two eaters? Or will these dates turn as cold as take-out fries?Check out the new Cravings by Chrissy Teigen pasta sauces, including the set with Dan’s quattrotini pasta shape!This episode originally aired on February 15, 2021, and was produced by Dan Pashman, Emma Morgenstern, Andres O'Hara, Tracey Samuelson, and Jared O'Connell. The Sporkful team now includes Dan Pashman, Emma Morgenstern, Andres O'Hara, Kameel Stanley, and Jared O'Connell. This update was produced by Gianna Palmer. Publishing by Shantel Holder.Every Friday, we reach into our deep freezer and reheat an episode to serve up to you. We're calling these our Reheats. If you have a show you want reheated, send us an email or voice memo at [email protected], and include your name, your location, which episode, and why.Transcript available at www.sporkful.com.Right now, Sporkful listeners can get three months free of the SiriusXM app by going to siriusxm.com/sporkful. Get all your favorite podcasts, more than 200 ad-free music channels curated by genre and era, and live sports coverage with the SiriusXM app. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

An email from Sara Bir set us off on an adventure. She’s an author and recipe developer who’s obsessed with pawpaws, the largest fruit native to North America. “Pawpaws are tricky in the kitchen,” Sara wrote to us. “You can't buy them in stores. Occasionally they cause people to vomit. But pawpaws are truly beguiling, reminiscent of tropical fruit like mangoes and bananas.” With the help of her connections in the pawpaw dark web, Sara had identified one of the few pawpaw patches in the New York area. Can Dan and Sara find a pawpaw in the wild? And why does the pawpaw — also known as the poor man’s banana and hillbilly mango — inspire such a cultish following?Pawpaw festivals are happening over the next couple of months in the eastern United States. Find one near you!The Sporkful production team includes Dan Pashman, Emma Morgenstern, Andres O’Hara, Kameel Stanley, and Jared O'Connell. This episode was edited by Tracey Samuelson. Publishing by Shantel Holder.Transcript available at www.sporkful.com.Right now, Sporkful listeners can get three months free of the SiriusXM app by going to siriusxm.com/sporkful. Get all your favorite podcasts, more than 200 ad-free music channels curated by genre and era, and live sports coverage with the SiriusXM app. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Casey Elsass is known as the “cookbook doula” because he’s helped birth nearly 20 cookbooks, as a ghostwriter or co-writer. Now, Casey has published his very first solo cookbook, What Can I Bring? Recipes To Help You Live Your Guest Life, about how to be the best guest at a dinner party. “If you're always on time, bring appetizers. If you're reliably late, bring drinks. If you're stopping by later, bring dessert,” says Casey. Casey joins Dan at the Samsung Test Kitchen in New York to whip up a few dishes from his cookbook, chat about dinner party etiquette, and take questions from our live audience. This episode is sponsored by Samsung Bespoke Appliances.This episode was produced by Dan Pashman, Max Miller, Andres O’Hara, and Jared O’Connell. The Sporkful production team also includes Emma Morgenstern and Kameel Stanley. Publishing by Shantel Holder.Transcript available at www.sporkful.com.Right now, Sporkful listeners can get three months free of the SiriusXM app by going to siriusxm.com/sporkful. Get all your favorite podcasts, more than 200 ad-free music channels curated by genre and era, and live sports coverage with the SiriusXM app. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.