We find a lot to fascinate us about food. Besides being necessary to live, and delicious to consume, food is also an incredible gateway to culture, science, and history unlike any other. Here are six great examples of podcasts that love to play with their food, whether they’re tracing ingredients back to their origins, examining the issue of food insecurity, teaching us how to roast the perfect chicken, breaking down the science of marshmallows, or pitting comedians against each other in an epic battle of wills to decide once and for all if pineapple belongs on pizza. Your stomach will probably grumble, but your ears – and brain – will be supremely satisfied.
Science, history, and culture all collide in the most delectable way on Savor. This podcast digs into what we eat and why, getting into pop culture favorites by examining all the foods served up in Buffy the Vampire Slayer and The Simpsons, while also doing deep-dish dives into breakfast cereals, oysters, ice cream trucks, Chef Boyardee, marshmallows, and molecular gastronomy. They even examine the kitschy culture of salt and pepper shakers and the Kool-Aid Man. Don’t just eat your food – Savor it with this podcast.
All rise! Food Court is now in session, with Chef Richard Blais presiding. All our food battles play out in this podcast, with comedians, writers, restaurateurs, and chefs arguing passionately about putting pineapple on pizza, whether crunchy or creamy peanut butter is superior, if a bagel is better toasted, if breakfast food is better at dinner time, whether or not to put beans in chili, and which fast food restaurant reigns supreme. From french fries to condiments to cake, no touchy food topic is without its champion in the Food Court.
Travel the entire world from the comfort of your kitchen with Point of Origin. Go to Egypt to learn about dates, to Iceland to learn about salt, and to Sri Lanka and Taiwan to learn about tea, straight from the mouths of the indigenous farmers who grow, cultivate, and harvest the ingredients we like best. Did you know that a Nigerian bean dish can trace its origins to Brazil? That ancient prophecies led to the growing of wild rice? That most olive oil comes from Spain? This fascinating podcast connects us more closely with what’s on our plates, and to the world at large, by tracing the Point of Origin of everything we eat.
On his podcast From Scratch, acclaimed cookbook author Michael Ruhlman talks with some of the best chefs in the country to teach us about the ingredients, preparation, and love that goes into cooking great food. From single-focused episodes teaching techniques for cooking with eggs, citrus, or raw fish, to wider themes like awareness and authenticity, to in-depth interviews with incredible chefs like Jonathan Waxman and Suzanne Cupps, Michael helps us cook more confidently From Scratch.
Food is a huge topic, and it isn’t encompassed in our entrees; there are politics and policies represented on our plates, too. So on Citizen Chef, acclaimed chef Tom Colicchio takes an unblinking look at food insecurity around the world; nutrition assistance and school lunch programs; the working conditions of poultry plants, meat processing facilities, and fishing vessels, and how they impact the health and safety of the usually underpaid workers employed there; and so much more. Enjoy a steaming hot cup of context with Citizen Chef.
From Korean barbecue to K-pop, Korean culture is exploding all over the world, and Korean chef and restaurateur Esther Choi wants us to know all about it. So on Get Down With K-Town, she welcomes on the trailblazers and tastemakers of Korean culture to talk about the music, fashion, skin care and beauty regimens, and most especially the food that makes Korean culture so unique and easy to love – all while preparing their favorite Korean dishes, like kimchi jjigae. We’re drooling already.
If you want to be sure you're listening to the podcasts everyone else is checking out, iHeartRadio has you covered. Every Monday, iHeartRadio releases a chart showing the most popular podcasts of the week. Stay up to date on what's trending by checking out the chart here. There's even a chart just for radio podcasts here, featuring all your favorite iHeartRadio personalities like Bobby Bones, Elvis Duran, Steve Harvey and dozens of others.
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