The Sporkful

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 on your nerd glasses and fire up your Bunsen burners!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.

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'Hara, with editorial help by Chris Bannon and Leital Molad.  The Serial theme song was composed by Nick Thorburn. The Sporkful team now includes Dan Pashman, Emma Morgenstern, Andres O'Hara, Kameel Stanley, and Jared O'Connell.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.

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 battled oral cancer. The experience changed his relationship with food forever. He and Dan discuss that and much more, including the art of eating on camera.This episode originally aired on October 11, 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.

“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: Black Food, which includes recipes, playlists, art, poetry, and essays from more than 100 contributors. Bryant joins Dan to talk about the many influences that guided him towards veganism, what it took to get the wider publishing community to take his work seriously, and why Black Food will be his last book.This episode originally aired on November 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.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.

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 Record for the world’s largest collection of pizza boxes — nearly 2,000.) This week, Dan and his family join Scott on one of his famous Sunday tours, in which pizza pilgrims board a school bus not knowing what pizzerias Scott plans to take them to. On the tour, Dan gets to watch Scott in action: figuring out his route on the fly, taking the temperature of pizza ovens with an infrared thermometer, and debunking NYC pizza myths. Plus, we have a big update on Scott’s personal life since he was on the show in 2018.The Sporkful production team includes Dan Pashman, Emma Morgenstern, Andres O'Hara, Kameel Stanley, and Jared O'Connell. Additional production by Grace Rubin.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.