Delve into Southern cooking, the state of farming, and more
Food podcasts aren’t reserved for avid home cooks or fine dining connoisseurs. With an expanding library of options exploring the latest news, culinary traditions, and questions of why and what we eat, there's a show to satisfy every eater.
Here, 6 options, available across all podcast platforms:
For expert nutrition perspectives: The Doctor’s Farmacy
Functional medicine doctor, Mark Hyman, M.D., brings his food-first health philosophy to this informative production. Through his own wealth of expertise and insights from guests like Jeffrey Bland, PhD, and Mark Bittman, he touches on modern-day lifestyles, eating habits, agricultural practices, and how each can be tied to chronic disease.
For intriguing food facts: Gastropod
Co-hosts Cynthia Graber and Nicola Twilley provide plenty of cocktail party fodder in their entertaining show. Pulling from scientific research and historical narratives, the duo performs eye-opening analyses of the foods we love. Topics range from the invention of the cherry tomato to growing potatoes in space.
For entertaining inspiration: Table Manners
Food and pop culture collide in this podcast hosted by singer-songwriter Jesse Ware and her mother Lennie. Ed Sheeran, Antoni Porowski, and Emilia Clarke are among the guests Jesse has invited to her dining room table. They chat about favorite dishes and life's happenings over a shared meal, cooked by the pair.
For the latest dining news: The Menu
Each week, the British podcast welcomes chefs and restaurateurs from across the globe to discuss how they got their start and the trends and changes you'll soon see on menus. Chef Douglas McMaster, the creator of zero-waste restaurant Silo, and Shamil Thakrar, the co-founder of Dishoom, one of the U.K.'s most-loved eateries, are among the notable guests. In bite-sized “Food Neighborhoods” segments, released between episodes, locals in destinations such as Tel Aviv and Stockholm lead audio tours featuring the best meals in the city.
For culinary history: Gravy
For more than five years, "Gravy" has been delving into the complex history of American Southern food. Each installment explores different facets of the region's cooking. In episodes like “Halal Memphis” and “The Mala Project: Chinese Flavors, Tennessee Family,” you’ll hear about the changing cultural landscape that’s making way for new flavors, while still leaving room for tradition.
For a little bit of everything: The Food Chain
Produced by the BBC, "The Food Chain" dives deep into the business and culture of food. Episodes include discussions on farmworkers' mental health issues, Instagrammable meals, and which products deserve to be called "meat." Personal narratives bring intimacy to the production: In a recurring series “My life in five dishes”, noteworthy chefs share their most memorable meals. Samin Nosrat’s first chocolate soufflé, served with a glass of cold milk, makes her list, while the sancocho he cooked for the people of Puerto Rico is a highlight for José Andrés.