The Sporkful

Dan Pashman

3x James Beard Award winner. Named one of TIME's 100 Best Podcasts Of All Time. We obsess about food to learn more about people. It's not for foodies, it's for eaters. Hosted by Dan Pashman, inventor of the viral pasta shape cascatelli.

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312 episodes
Updated Friday

Episodes312

Newest first

Oct 24, 2025 · 36 min
How Did Staying Hydrated Become A Thing? (Reheat)
To say that hydration is an invention is only a slight exaggeration. Water bottles have become a crucial accessory — a status symbol. How did that happen?
Oct 20, 2025 · 43 min
How Does Paul Hollywood Dunk His Cookies?
On The Great British Bake Off, Paul Hollywood is known for his tough but fair judgments, his piercing blue eyes, and his handshake, which he offers to a contestant only when they really impress him. But before he was ever a TV judge, he was a baker. When he first started doing TV appearances, it was nothing more than “icing on the cake” of his baking career.
Oct 17, 2025 · 33 min
Nadiya Hussain, From “Great British Bake Off” To Elbows Out (Reheat)
When Nadiya Hussain competed on The Great British Bake Off in 2015, it seemed like all of Britain — from self-proclaimed #Nadiyators to the prime minister — was rooting for her. Since then, she’s hosted TV shows, written best-selling books, and become a household name in the UK.
Oct 13, 2025 · 30 min
Why Would You Put A Recipe On Your Gravestone?
Rosie Grant was already obsessed with cemeteries when she came across her first gravestone recipe. The headstone was carved into the shape of an open cookbook with a cookie recipe on it. Rosie made the cookies, posted about it on TikTok, and overnight she became the gravestone recipes lady.
Oct 10, 2025 · 35 min
Can I Wipe My Oily Hands On My Legs? (Reheat)
We open the phone lines to settle your most contentious food disputes this week. Eliza wants to wipe her oily hands on her bare legs — is her boyfriend Connor right to object? Then, Natalie thinks she’s entitled to half of what her husband Josh cooks, even though he’s generally hungrier.
Oct 6, 2025 · 47 min
What's In Taylor Swift's Signature Cocktail?
Are chicken tenders having a renaissance? Are lit candles in restaurants worth the risk of a few people’s hair catching on fire? And when Taylor Swift designs a signature cocktail…what’s in it?
Oct 3, 2025 · 37 min
How Ketchup Got Its Name (Reheat)
Ketchup started as a far different product from what’s on the shelves today. A lot of its evolution can be traced to an early government agency and a group there called “The Poison Squad” that tested the safety of different chemicals -- by eating them. We hear that story. Then a linguist explains why the name “rocky road” actually makes the ice cream taste better.
Sep 29, 2025 · 34 min
What Can McDonald’s Tell Us About Black America?
Growing up as a Black kid in Chicago, Dr. Marcia Chatelain says she learned more about Black history from McDonald’s than from her fancy prep school. Now, she’s a professor of Africana studies at the University of Pennsylvania. In her Pulitzer Prize-winning book, Franchise: The Golden Arches in Black America, Dr. Chatelain explores the role that McDonald’s has played in Black communities since its founding in the 1940s.
Sep 26, 2025 · 26 min
Celebrating Shabbat At Wendy’s (Reheat)
Shabbat — the Jewish Sabbath – begins every Friday at sundown with a meal. But in all the years that Jews have been having Shabbat dinner, there’s no record in the rabbinic texts of it happening at the fast food chain Wendy’s. Until, that is, a group of seniors in Palm Desert, California, made it their weekly tradition.
Sep 22, 2025 · 33 min
What’s A Jewish Tavern And House Of Learning?
Josh Foer and Rabbi Charlie Schwartz set out to create a new kind of Jewish space, one that would be welcoming, thought-provoking, delicious, and even cool. The result is Lehrhaus — a Jewish tavern and house of learning. This week Dan visits Lehrhaus in Somerville, Massachusetts, where he takes a tour of their “magical Jewish objects,” checks out the room where they host events on everything from religious texts to the secret Jewish history of punk music, and, of course, digs into their food and
Sep 19, 2025 · 35 min
Is The Future Of Bourbon Female? (Reheat)
Bourbon's growing popularity is changing an industry with deep roots in Kentucky. We travel there to learn what that means for one of the oldest and one of the youngest bourbon masters.
Sep 15, 2025 · 34 min
Why Does Cracker Barrel Keep Making People So Mad?
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.”
Sep 12, 2025 · 23 min
How To Host Your Own Porkapalooza
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.
Sep 8, 2025 · 33 min
Soju, Snacks, And Ramen: How To Party Like A Korean
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.
Sep 5, 2025 · 32 min
Writer Samantha Irby Is Having Fewer Over-The-Sink Moments (Reheat)
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.
Sep 1, 2025 · 28 min
Queer Eye’s Antoni Porowski Is An Emotional Eater
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.
Aug 29, 2025 · 28 min
Dan Savage Recommends A Polyeaterous Lifestyle (Reheat)
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.
Aug 25, 2025 · 44 min
How Long Should You Wait For The First Bite?
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.
Aug 22, 2025 · 32 min
The Sporkful Dating Game! (Reheat)
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.
Aug 18, 2025 · 38 min
On The Hunt For The Elusive Pawpaw
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.

The Sporkful

How Did Staying Hydrated Become A Thing? (Reheat)

How Does Paul Hollywood Dunk His Cookies?

Nadiya Hussain, From “Great British Bake Off” To Elbows Out (Reheat)

Why Would You Put A Recipe On Your Gravestone?

Can I Wipe My Oily Hands On My Legs? (Reheat)

What's In Taylor Swift's Signature Cocktail?

How Ketchup Got Its Name (Reheat)

What Can McDonald’s Tell Us About Black America?

Celebrating Shabbat At Wendy’s (Reheat)

What’s A Jewish Tavern And House Of Learning?

Is The Future Of Bourbon Female? (Reheat)

Why Does Cracker Barrel Keep Making People So Mad?

How To Host Your Own Porkapalooza

Soju, Snacks, And Ramen: How To Party Like A Korean

Writer Samantha Irby Is Having Fewer Over-The-Sink Moments (Reheat)

Queer Eye’s Antoni Porowski Is An Emotional Eater

Dan Savage Recommends A Polyeaterous Lifestyle (Reheat)

How Long Should You Wait For The First Bite?

The Sporkful Dating Game! (Reheat)

On The Hunt For The Elusive Pawpaw