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In this episode of Occupied Thoughts, FMEP's Sarah Anne Minkin speaks with writer and activist Ali Awad about life in Masafer Yatta, the part of the West Bank where he lives, which is subject to ongoing and escalating state-backed Israeli settler attacks. Ali describes life in his rural village, Tuba, on "a good day," a day without settler attacks, and also looks at the history of Masafer Yatta under Israeli occupation, including decades of being unsettled and facing forcible transfer and the threat of continued expulsion. Ali describes the escalations in attacks and threats against these communities since October 7th, 2023, including recent attacks targeting his village and family. Looking at the multi-pronged Israeli efforts to force Palestinians out of Masafer Yatta, Ali talks about the loss of any sense of security, hope, or the possibility of a future on the land he and his families have inhabited for many generations. And he speaks about efforts to support children traumatized by settler/soldier violence, to connect with human rights activists fighting these injustices, and to achieve the security and freedom needed for more "good days" in Masafer Yatta. Ali Awad is a human rights activist and writer from Tuba in the South Hebron Hills. He has a degree in English literature. Read more of Ali's work here: Starving Palestine: Israeli colonialism and the struggle for food sovereignty in Masafer Yatta. Words by Manal Shqair. Photographs by Ali Awad. Vittles, 2/10/25: https://www.vittlesmagazine.com/p/starving-palestine Ali Awad: “Many West Bank Palestinians Are Being Forced Out of Their Villages. Is My Family Next?” New York Times 11/20/25: https://www.nytimes.com/2023/11/20/opinion/israel-west-bank-palestinians.html Ali's many articles on +972 Magazine: https://www.972mag.com/writer/ali-awad/ Ali Awad in Haaretz: https://www.haaretz.com/ty-WRITER/0000017f-da25-d432-a77f-df3fa13f0000 Humans of Masafer Yatta: https://humansofmasaferyatta.substack.com/ For more on the attacks in Jinba, Susya, and Tuba, see: Israeli settlers attacked Jinba — then came back in army uniform (Oren Ziv, +972 Magazine, 4/2/25): https://www.972mag.com/jinba-pogrom-israeli-settlers-soldiers/ In Masafer Yatta, we need more than awards — we need protection (Ahmad Nawajah, +972 Magazine, 4/8/25): https://www.972mag.com/susiya-masafer-yatta-oscars-protection/ On the Oscar-winning documentary No Other Land and ongoing attacks in Masafer Yatta, see https://www.972mag.com/search/?q=no%20other%20land For more on Masafer Yatta: https://savemasaferyatta.com/ To watch the Oscar-winning documentary No Other Land: https://nootherland.com/ Sarah Anne Minkin, PhD, is FMEP's Director of Programs & Partnerships. She is an expert on the intersection between Israeli civil society and Palestinian civil rights and human rights advocacy as well as the ways that Jewish Americans approach the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. She leads FMEP's programming, works to deepen FMEP's relationships with existing and potential grantees, and builds relationships with new partners in the philanthropic community. A graduate of Yale University, Sarah Anne earned her doctorate at the University of California-Berkeley. Original music by Jalal Yaquoub.
Introducing....The Lost Food of Soho, a new audio piece commissioned and published by Vittles and written, narrated and produced by me (Lucy Dearlove). This is just a very small taster, you can listen to the whole thing for free on Vittles itself, or on all good podcast platforms. https://www.vittlesmagazine.com/ With big thanks to Jonathan Nunn and Adam Coghlan who I worked closely with through the production of this piece, and to the other Vittles editors who provided crucial feedback. Cast Hilary Armstrong – writer, worked in Andrew Edmunds Marcus Harris – DJ/promoter Russell Davies – creator of eggbaconchipsandbeans Jeremy Lee – chef proprietor of Quo Vadis Christine Yau – former owner of Y Ming Darren Coffield – artist and author of Tales From The Colony Room: Soho's Lost Bohemia Iain Sinclair – author Polly – sex work and organiser with SWARM Megan Macedo – writer and former Sister Ray employee
Calvin Eng is the chef and owner of Bonnie's, a very popular Cantonese American restaurant in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. He's also the author of a great new cookbook: Salt Sugar MSG, an introduction to his unique style of home cooking, cowritten with his partner, Phoebe Melnick. It's so fun to have Calvin in the studio to talk about growing up in New York's many Chinatowns, developing recipes for home cooks (instead of line cooks), and more.Also on the show, Matt has a fun conversation with Substack's Austin Tedesco. We love Substack and talked about the upcoming Grubstack virtual festival, running from March 13-15. We also talked about how Substack is helping writers reach wide audiences, and go over some of our favorites. Mentioned on the episode: Bangers and Jams, Alison Roman, Feed Me, Vittles, Sweet City, The Best Bit, Perfect City, Bite Sized, The Angel, Cake Zine, Sook, A Small & Simple Thing, Snaxshot, Why Is This Interesting?Do you enjoy This Is TASTE? Drop us a review on Apple, or star us on Spotify. We'd love to hear from you. READ MORE:Buttery Oyster Sauce Noodles [TASTE]Salted MSG Caramel Sauce [Food and Wine]The Future of Food Media Is in Your Inbox [TASTE]See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
Fergus Henderson! The man who thirty years ago opened St John and ever since has implored us to eat from "nose to tail".Lewis Bassett talks to Zoe Williams, columnist at the Guardian newspaper, and Amber Husain, author of Meat Love: An Ideology of The Flesh.Note: Lewis' article on St John will appear on Vittles soon!The Full English is produced by Lewis Bassett. Mixing and sound design is from Forest DLG.Follow the Full English on Instagram. Get extra content and support the show on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Born in the pandemic lockdown of 2020, when Britain's restaurants had closed their doors, Jonathan Nunn founded the online newsletter Vittles, which rapidly established itself as the premier platform for exploring food cultures in Britain and around the world. Out of Vittles was born London Feeds Itself, a fascinating collection of essays written at the intersections of food, architecture, history, and demography. First published by Open City in 2022, London Feeds Itself now appears in a new edition in association with Fitzcarraldo.In this episode, Jonathan Nunn speaks about the project with architectural historian Owen Hatherley, whose essay ‘The Housing Estate' from the book serves as a springboard for the discussion.Get the book: https://londonreviewbookshop.co.uk/stock/london-feeds-itself-jonathan-nunnFind more events at the Bookshop: https://lrb.me/eventspod Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
A quick promotional episode to support Double Groove Brewing's 4th Annual Beer, Vinyl & Vittles Arts and Music Festival benefiting the Harford Community Action Agency on SEP 7 | 12 - 8 PM. On this episode, I sat down and spoke with Michael SummerSesh, brewmaster and vocalist for Harford County favorites, Point Break Band.Check it out!Sponsored by the Harford County Cultural Arts Board.
Von KetelsenCarroll, IA What are they up to today?Career: Carroll Broadcasting“Vittles on the Go with Von” - delivering food to farmersAdvocate for FFA - interview several current FFA studentsAttended ISU for Journalism, Mass Communications, and Speech CommunicationsEmcee for People's Company 12th Annual Land Investment Expo in 2019Likes to repost quotes and saying on his Facebook and LinkedInSolo singer/acoustic guitarist Will play at stores/restaurants/nursing homesGrew up performing with his dads bandHis brother died of leukemia at the age of 18 when Von was 6 months old (how many siblings)2006: raise interest in building a Hope Lodge in Iowa City2007: presented the American Cancer Society's “Sword of Hope” AwardHe did a solo bike excursion in honor of his mom who was diagnosed (later passed away) with terminal cancerQuad Cities → Washington D.C.rode a rugged steel-framed bike pulling a cargo trailer containing his sleeping bag, tent and guitarPresented the Honorary Iowa FFA Degree at the 2021 Iowa FFA Leadership ConferenceWas in 4H but the school he attended did not have FFA at the time Past JobsYearJobCompany1985Communications SpecialistCommunicating for Agriculture1987Account ExecutiveMarshalltown Broadcasting 1989Farm Services DirectorCumulus Media1995-PresentFreeland Communications ProfessionalKetelsen Communications1999Farm Services DirectorClear Channel Communications2004Regional ManagerIowa Farm Bureau Federation2007Farm Services DirectorThree Eagles Communications2012-PresentNews/Ag/MarketingCarroll Broadcasting Don't forget to like the podcast on all platforms and leave a review where ever you listen!Websitewww.Farm4Profit.comShareable episode linkhttps://intro-to-farm4profit.simplecast.comEmail addressFarm4profitllc@gmail.comPhone515.207.9640Subscribe to YouTubehttps://www.youtube.com/channel/UCSR8c1BrCjNDDI_Acku5XqwFollow us on TikTokhttps://www.tiktok.com/@farm4profitConnect with us on Facebookhttps://www.facebook.com/Farm4ProfitLLC/
Old Rory Brandybuck has a point, after all. We return to the Long-expected Party just in time to see Bilbo disappear. Plus, what's a party without a little regret?
Dive into a captivating episode where pharmacist Jay Reed delves into the complexities of traveling with medicines, drawing on his extensive experience from living in Yemen and other countries. Jay shares not only essential tips on managing medications while abroad but also enriches the discussion with his personal stories from Yemen—highlighting the local hospitality, cultural nuances, and challenges he faced with medications during his tenure. This episode offers an essential guide for anyone looking to travel smart with their health in check, seasoned with intriguing tales from one of the world's most enigmatic destinations. ➕ Follow Jay: Instagram and Twitter: @eatsoneate Blog: eatsoneate.com Guys of a Certain Age Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/guys-of-a-certain-age/id1451720417 Vittles and Vitals Podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/vittlesandvitals ➕ Follow Chris and Sara: Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/chrisandsara Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/chrisandsara_ Website: https://www.chrisandsara.com
On today's show, Paul Vittles discusses the Samaritans new report into suicide looks into the economic cost of suicide in the UK - but isn't this a rather shallow way of looking at something so sensitive? Later, Jim talks to us about the Farmers' protests in Westminster, London yesterday. GUEST 1 OVERVIEW: Paul Vittles is the Chief Facilitator of the Zero Suicide Society Transformation Programme. GUEST 2 OVERVIEW: Jim Ferguson is a former Parliamentary candidate with The Brexit Party Barnsley. Businessman entrepreneur. Founder of Freedom Train International.
Links for the Core Work of Paul Vittles, The Jordan Legacy, the #ZeroSuicideSociety Transformation Programme and the #JoinTheDots Tour/Conference/Festival, 12-23 June 2024 Let's Talk About Suicide! https://paulvittles.medium.com/lets-talk-about-suicide-35e4706f6bf7 Groundbreaking Report - Moving Towards a Zero Suicide Society - and the Way Forward https://thejordanlegacy.com/moving-towards-a-zero-suicide-society-edition-2-of-the-report/ The Jordan Legacy's (Critical) Response to the National Suicide Prevention Strategy for England, 2023-2028 https://thejordanlegacy.com/the-jordan-legacys-response-to-the-governments-national-suicide-prevention-strategy-2023-2028/ Paul Vittles' Detailed Critique of the National Suicide Prevention Strategy for England, 2023-2028 https://paulvittles.medium.com/are-we-in-the-suicide-prevention-business-or-is-it-suicide-maintenance-40a4e4129496 The #ZeroSuicideSociety #JoinTheDots Humber to Mersey Tour, 12-23 June 2024 https://thejordanlegacy.com/jointhedots/ The Pioneering 'All Pieces in the Puzzle' Launch Conference, Baths Hall, Scunthorpe, 12 June 2024 https://thejordanlegacy.com/conference-line-up/ The Big Finish 'Merseyside Festival with Lived Experience Voices' in a 5,000 Capacity Venue, 22-23 June 2024 https://thejordanlegacy.com/merseyside-festival/ Jordan's Space - the World's Only Fortnightly Radio Show Focused on Suicide Prevention: All Recordings https://thejordanlegacy.com/jordans-space/ 'What We Actually Do' - a Snapshot Month (Jan 2024) Working in Transformational Change in Suicide Prevention https://paulvittles.medium.com/so-what-is-it-you-actually-do-32bbd4d27c9d Paul Vittles - 40 Years in Community Engagement: Memoir with Life & Work Lessons https://paulvittles.medium.com/40-years-of-community-engagement-7-global-community-engagement-days-8dbddeca79bc Other Key Content Referenced in the Show World Health Organisation (WHO) and United Nations SDGs https://www.who.int/health-topics/suicide#tab=tab_1 International Association for Suicide Prevention (IASP) inc World Suicide Prevention Day 10 September https://www.iasp.info/ Lifeline International https://lifeline-international.com/ The Global Zero Suicide (in Healthcare) Movement (which began in Detroit) https://youtu.be/tyfdN-4nJZQ Zero Suicide Institute of Australasia https://www.zerosuicide.com.au/ UK NCISH: National Confidential Inquiry into Suicide and Safety in Mental Health https://sites.manchester.ac.uk/ncish/ Podcast: Suicide is a Means of Death Not a Cause of Death https://open.spotify.com/episode/2rtecRiS23JtW2aNnN7D0p Zero Suicide Alliance (ZSA) Online Suicide Awareness Training https://www.zerosuicidealliance.com/training Alfie's Squad (Pioneering Peer Support for Kids Bereaved by Suicide) https://alfiessquad.org/ SuperFriend (Not-for-Profit Foundation funded by the Australian Superannuation and Insurance Sector) https://www.superfriend.com.au/ CONTACT PAUL VITTLES LinkedIn: Paul Vittles - https://www.linkedin.com/in/paulvittles/ Medium: @PaulVittles - https://paulvittles.medium.com/ X/Twitter: @PaulVittles - https://twitter.com/PaulVittles Bio on The Jordan Legacy Website: https://thejordanlegacy.com/member/paul-vittles-fmrs-fami-frsa-facilitating-transformational-change-to-move-towards-zero-suicide/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Episode 175 - In this episode of The Salty Yak Outdoor Podcast I sit down whith my friend, Chris Smith, and talk about his new podcast, Wild Vittles Podcsat! We talk all thing wild game cooking! As avid outdoorsmen and women we all enjoy the pursuit of the game and fish we chase. Preparing a great meal with that game is Chris' passion and his podcast takes us along on that jouney of delicious wild game cooking! A link to his podcast and instagram are below! Give him a listen and a follow! You will be glad you did! Wild Vittles Podcast Wild Vittles Podcast Instagram
Why do we call Nancy the queen of pistachios? What secrets can Ruth tell us about critic bait? And is Laurie really the only one of the three of us who loves tripe? Also, can food be too flavorful? These are just some of the things we're talking about in today's episode. We also discuss the vanity of cooking. We dish on show-off chefs and why Nancy says Thomas Keller and Massimo Bottura don't fit in that category. We talk about why we love Sarah Cicolini's Rome restaurant Santo Palato and the Pie Room at London's Holborn Dining Room. Plus, why chefs like Italy's Franco Pepe and Nancy use dehydrators. And could it be that writer and former “Great British Bake Off” finalist Ruby Tandoh is this generation's Laurie Colwin? In addition, for you, our paying subscribers, read on for bonus notes. But first, let's talk pine nuts. Three Ingredients is a reader-supported publication. To receive posts with bonus material, including recipes, restaurant recommendations and podcast excerpts that didn't fit into the main show, consider becoming a paid subscriber.A better pine nutWould you be shocked to learn that the pine nuts you're most likely using in your pesto come from China or Siberia?Nancy, of course, knew all about this. But Ruth remained ignorant until a few years ago, at a market in Italy she noticed that the pinoli were much larger than the ones she buys at home.Back in her own kitchen, she scrutinized the pine nuts in her freezer. (Pine nuts are filled with oil, which means that left in the cupboard they quickly go rancid. It's much safer to store them in the freezer.) Sure enough, the label said something about the various countries the pine nuts might have come from, and not one of them was Italy or the United States.She took out a handful and laid them next to the ones she'd bought in Italy. Half the size! Then she tasted them. Half the flavor! These days she buys her pine nuts from Gustiamo, which owner Beatrice Ughi gets from the west coast of Italy where Pinus Pinea trees, better known as Italian stone pines or umbrella pines, grow. They're expensive. And they're worth it. Pro tip from Nancy, who gets pine nuts from Sicily for her Mozza restaurants but also uses the smaller, more common varieties of pine nuts for big batches of pesto. Use pricey larger Italian pine nuts when you want to serve the pine nuts whole, as in the rosemary-pine nut cookies she serves at Pizzeria Mozza with her famous butterscotch budino — we've got a recipe below. And if, like Laurie, you were wondering why we don't just harvest pine nuts from all the pine trees grown in the U.S., here are two articles from 2017 that explore the issue: Modern Farmer calls “the downfall of the American pine nut industry, a truly embarrassing and damaging loss given that the pinyon species in North America can produce nuts (seeds, technically) worth upwards of $40 per pound.” The magazine cites a Civil Eats report that puts part of the blame on a U.S. Bureau of Land Management practice of clearing “thousands of acres” of piñon-juniper woodlands for cattle grazing between the 1950s and ‘70s because the trees were “useless as timber.” The pistachio queen dehydratesNancy practically lives on Turkish pistachios, which are smaller and more flavorful than the American kind. She's particularly partial to pistachios from Aleppo. There are many sources; one we like in New York is Russ and Daughters. Nancy also loves Sicilian pistachios. But as she discusses in the podcast, if you want to get the nuts both green and crunchy, you're going to need a dehydrator. “That is,” she says, “the best purchase I've ever made.” This Magic Mill is a favorite. Another unexpected chef who uses a dehydrator is Slow Food hero Franco Pepe, who is also Nancy's favorite pizzaiolo. She rarely spends time in Italy without making a visit to Pepe in Grani, his restaurant in Caiazzo outside of Naples. In fact Nancy is the one who persuaded restaurant critic Jonathan Gold (and Laurie's late husband) to come to Caizzo for a 2014 Food & Wine article in which he said Franco Pepe made what “is probably the best pizza in the world." Many others, including our friend and Italian food expert Faith Willinger, who first told Nancy about Pepe, agree.So what does a chef like Pepe, who insists on hand mixing his dough and calibrates his pizzas to show off the freshness of his region's ingredients do with a dehydrator? For one thing, he dehydrates olive and puts them on a dessert pizza with apricots sourced from the volcanic soil of Vesuvius. It's fantastic. Laurie talked to him for the L.A. Times about what tech can do to save pizza's future. Read about it here. The Colwin legacyRuby Tandoh! Ruby Tandoh! If you want to read the article we all love — the one that got Ruth to suggest that Tandoh might be this generation's Laurie Colwin — here it is. Note the excellent title: “The Studied Carelessness of Great Dessert: On croquembouche, Alison Roman, and the art of not trying too hard.” And just in case you don't know Colwin's work, here are two stories, one from the New Yorker and one from the New York Times, that talk about the Colwin legacy. As for Tandoh's Vittles — if you're not reading it, you're missing out. You can find it here.Mind and heartThat is Massimo Bottura trying to make Nancy happy. Which he always does. You probably know that his small restaurant in Modena, Osteria Francescana, has three Michelin stars and was voted the best restaurant in the world twice on the World's 50 Best list and remains on its Best of the Best list. You might also know that he's a chef with an extremely interesting mind and a huge heart, who is deeply involved with feeding the hungry of the world.We've known (and admired) both Massimo and his elegant American wife Lara Gilmore for a while now. But although Laurie and Nancy had eaten at his Modena restaurant many times, Ruth was late to the game. This is part of what she wrote in 2017, after her first marathon lunch at his restaurant:Leave it to me to go to a four-hour lunch on a day of such intense heat the newspaper headlines all read “Dangerous even for the animals.” (For the record, it hit 107 degrees.) … We arrived parched and almost dizzy with heat.Within seconds, we'd forgotten everything but the pure pleasure of listening to Massimo and Lara discuss their various projects (a refettorio in London, another in Burkina Faso and a gelateria in a refugee camp in Greece) — and the meal they were about to serve us.Blown away. That's my instant review. If you want more, keep reading.For another perspective on Massimo's food, Laurie wrote in the L.A. Times about the meal she ate at Osteria Francescana earlier this summer when the chef was revisiting and reconceiving many of his iconic dishes, including tortellini. “Bottura may break the form of a classic dish,” she wrote, “but he almost always brings the flavor back to the nostalgic tastes of his childhood.”Incidentally, Massimo and Lara have a new book, Slow Food Fast Cars, and they will be discussing it with Ruth on Monday night, Dec. 11, at the 92nd Street Y in Manhattan. Come join them!Best comment of this episode? Nancy on croquembouche: “Struggling with your food is not a fun way to cook.”The London Restaurant ListHere are the London restaurants Nancy mentions in this episode.Lyle'sThe Barbary The Palomar: The Pie Room at the Holborn Dining RoomSaborSt. John'sPop Quiz!Can anyone guess the name of the chef standing next to Nancy?Want a recipe from Nancy?In addition, for you, our paying subscribers, read on for bonus notes and the recipe for Nancy's famous Butterscotch Budino with Caramel Sauce and Rosemary Pine Nut Cookie. And we'll give you the answer to the pop quiz above. Get full access to Three Ingredients at threeingredients.substack.com/subscribe
Rebecca May Johnson has published essays, reviews and non-fiction with Granta, Times Literary Supplement and Daunt Books Publishing, among others, and is an editor at the trailblazing food publication Vittles. Small Fires is her first book- it was short listed for Foyles Nonfiction Book of the year 2022 and was Foyles Non-fiction Book of the Month for September 2023.
In this episode, Kenneth once again sits down with, Jay Reed, the co-host of the Vittles and Vitals and Guys of a Certain Age podcasts. Today, they are talking about percolator coffee. Kenneth and Jay share the fascinating history of this way of making coffee, as well as explaining how to easily make a great cup of coffee using a percolator. KEY TAKEAWAYS Percolator coffee gets a bad rap….which it definitely does not deserve. Use boiling water and a coarser grind to reduce the risk of over extraction. Timing is important, experiment to find and dial in the right time for your device. Mocha pots work differently from percolators. BEST MOMENTS ‘Percolator beats drip. ´ ‘With a percolator the water is going through multiple times.' EPISODE RESOURCES Nespresso episode - https://omny.fm/shows/coffee-101/s2e32-c101 K-Cups episode - https://omny.fm/shows/coffee-101/s2e31-c101 Podcast - https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/vittles-and-vitals/id1482632368 Podcast - https://www.guysofacertainage.com/ VALUABLE RESOURCES Award-winning single-origin specialty coffee: https://umblecoffee.com/ At Umble Coffee, we only roast specialty-grade arabica coffee from around the world with cupping scores 84 and above. Don't sabotage yourself in pursuing your goals - drink coffee that tastes better and is better for you. No crash, great taste, and better long-term health benefits. That's Umble Coffee. Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/umblecoffee/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/umblecoffee/ Twitter: https://mobile.twitter.com/umblecoffee ABOUT THE SHOW Coffee 101 is an educational show on all things coffee. Join Kenneth and Katie as they start with the most basic questions about coffee and build your knowledge from there. If you love coffee, are curious about coffee, or you're a business just looking for a resource to train your team, Coffee 101 is without question the show for you! Season 1 is all about coffee's journey from ‘seed to shelf'. Season 2 is all about coffee's journey from ‘shelf to sip'. ABOUT THE HOST: Kenneth Thomas is also an instructor with Stanford Continuing Studies for an all-in-one coffee class. He owns and is head roaster at Umble Coffee Co. He and Umble Coffee have been consistently ranked one of the best specialty coffee roasters in the United States. Kenneth is very passionate about coffee and coffee education. ABOUT THE CO-HOST: Katie Thomas is Kenneth's oldest daughter and brings an entertaining flair to the podcast. She's still learning about coffee and thus makes the perfect co-host. She, like the listeners, would claim to be a ‘101-er' - like you - coffee curious. She'll be the future of the coffee industry, and the future looks very bright! CONTACT METHOD Want to reach Kenneth? Have questions, show ideas, or want to just let us know you're enjoying the show? The best way is to leave us a great review and put your thoughts in the comment section - Kenneth reads all of them! The second-best way is through DM on social media. HOW TO LEAVE A REVIEW Enjoying the show?! We'd love for you to leave us a review. It helps us grow and educate more people about coffee! Here's how: if you're on Apple podcasts, ‘search' for us as if you didn't already follow the show. When you click on the show, scroll down to ratings and you'll see where you can leave a rating. Spotify is a little easier - follow and listen to the podcast, and then you can rate and review it.BUY COFFEE!: https://umblecoffee.comThis show was brought to you by Progressive Media
Meat Love, the latest book-length essay by Amber Husain (following on from 2021's Replace Me), explores how meat-eating has become irretrievably enmeshed with capitalist desire, in what Sophie Lewis has described as ‘an exquisitely-crafted little hand grenade lobbed at the gentrification of the carnivorous mind'.She is in conversation with Rebecca May Johnson, whose Small Fires: An Epic in the Kitchen (Pushkin, 2022) touches on many of the same revolutionary themes. Johnson is an essayist and critic, and senior editor at the online magazine Vittles. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
What is a caff when it's not a cafe? Where did the caff come from and who will mourn the greasy spoon if, as we hear, they're disappearing? Joining Lewis Bassett is the author and Guardian columnist Felicity Cloake and Isaac Rangaswami, writer and the man behind the Instagram page Caffs Not Cafes.Felicity's book is Red Sauce Brown Sauce. Her writing for the Guardian can be found here. Isaac has written about caffs for the Guardian and Vittles. Mixing and sound design is from Forest DLG.Follow the Full English on Twitter, Instagram and TikTok. Get extra content and support the show on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
In this episode, Kenneth is once again joined by his coffee friend, Jay Reed, who is also the co-host of the Vittles and Vitals and Guys of a Certain Age podcasts and the owner of the popular eatsoneate food & drink blog. Last week´s episode was all about the popular K-cup coffee pods. This week, it is the turn of the European-based Nespresso pod system. They look at the differences, share their experience with the system, consider its environmental credentials, and provide you with tips to help you to make the best Nespresso. KEY TAKEAWAYS Nespresso dominates the EU single-serve capsule market. For the USA, Nespresso developed the Vertuo capsule. It more closely recreates the drip coffee method. The luxury Vertuo models automatically change the ratios and brewing method for each drink and size. Their coffee is roasted and packaged in Switzerland, where standards are high. It extracts fast. Because the capsule spins at about 7,000 rpm, there is a lot of crema. The crema can be a bit bitter, so you might like to mix it in...or even remove some of it. Their pods are made from aluminum so are easier to recycle. The double shot cap contains less coffee than you would usually use to make a double shot espresso. BEST MOMENTS ‘You can get either hot or cold foam. ´ ‘With Nespresso, you´ll get a lot more crema on top.' ‘One machine to do it all.' GUEST RESOURCES https://eatsoneate.com/ https://www.instagram.com/eatsoneate/ https://twitter.com/eatsoneate https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/vittles-and-vitals/id1482632368 https://www.guysofacertainage.com/ Espresso C101P episode - https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/coffee-101/id1616624229?i=1000617834308 Delonghi Nespresso Coffee Machines VALUABLE RESOURCES Award-winning single-origin specialty coffee: https://umblecoffee.com/ At Umble Coffee, we only roast specialty-grade arabica coffee from around the world with cupping scores 84 and above. Don't sabotage yourself in pursuing your goals - drink coffee that tastes better and is better for you. No crash, great taste, and better long-term health benefits. That's Umble Coffee. Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/umblecoffee/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/umblecoffee/ Twitter: https://mobile.twitter.com/umblecoffee ABOUT THE HOST As a coffee lover, physician, chemical engineer, serial entrepreneur, competitive runner, writer, and family man, Kenneth knows what it's like to push yourself to achieve goals very few accomplish. He's one of the best specialty coffee roasters in the United States as he's a multi-year US Coffee Roasters' Competition Finalist. He created Umble Coffee Co with the belief that, if sourced and roasted right, coffee can taste phenomenal and be good for you. “Life's too short to drink bad coffee.” CONTACT METHOD Want to reach Kenneth? Have questions, show ideas, or want to just let us know you're enjoying the show? The best way is to leave us a great review and put your thoughts in the comment section - Kenneth reads all of them! The second-best way is through DM on social media. BUY COFFEE!: https://umblecoffee.comThis show was brought to you by Progressive Media
Today, I'm joined by Dr. Colleen Reichmann - licensed clinical psychologist and eating disorder specialist with lived experience with anorexia, founder of Wildflower Therapy, and author of The Inside Scoop on Eating Disorder Recovery: Advice From Two Therapists Who Have Been There. Colleen is also an advocate for intersectional feminism, body liberation, and HAES, and she's also a passionate advocate for maternal mental health, and an IVF mom times two. Can I Have Another Snack? is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.In this episode, Colleen and I talk about a lot of pretty difficult themes. She discusses her journey to parenthood through IVF and through multiple miscarriages. We talk about grief, ambiguous loss, and being really angry and mad at your body and why it's important to allow all of that to be there. We talk about these topics as sensitively as we can, but if it's not for you right now, then just give this one a miss. There are loads more episodes that you can go back and listen to and just come and join us in the next episode. Find out more about Colleen's work here.Follow her work on Instagram here.Subscribe to her Substack here.Follow Laura on Instagram here.Subscribe to my newsletter here.Here's the transcript in full: Colleen Reichmann: But I felt like my body did let me down.I wanted those babies. Like, so much, and it didn't do what I wanted it to do. I can't imagine anything more important in my life than that, and it let me down, like, repeatedly. I had such rage. Like, I am at this point, just like any relationship we have with like a spouse, for example, your points where you're going to be just so angry and need space from your spouse or your partner. And that's how I felt during that period. I didn't want to be, like, pushed to, like, reunite at that time, I was like, no, I want to sleep in different bedrooms.INTROLaura Thomas: Hey, and welcome to Can I Have Another Snack? podcast, where we talk about food, bodies, and identity, especially through the lens of parenting. I'm Laura Thomas, I'm an anti-diet registered nutritionist, and I also write the Can I Have Another Snack? newsletter. Today I'm talking to Dr. Colleen Reichmann.Colleen is a licensed clinical psychologist practicing in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. She works at her group practice, Wildflower Therapy. She has lived experience with anorexia and this experience sparked her passion for spreading knowledge and awareness that recovery is possible. She is now an eating disorder specialist and has worked at various treatment facilities as well as authored a book, The Inside Scoop on Eating Disorder Recovery, advised from two therapists who have been there.She's an advocate for intersectional feminism, body liberation, and health at every size, and she's also a passionate advocate for maternal mental health, and an IVF mom times two. So in this episode, Colleen and I talk about a lot of pretty difficult themes. She discusses her journey to parenthood through IVF and through multiple miscarriages.We talk about grief, ambiguous loss, and being really angry and mad at your body and why it's important to allow all of that to be there. We talk about these topics as sensitively as we can, but if it's not for you right now, then just give this one a miss. There are loads more episodes that you can go back and listen to and just come and join us in the next episode.We're also going to be talking about raising embodied kiddos towards the end of the episode, so you can also just skip forward and listen to that part. And Colleen shares some of her really great advice as a mother and an eating disorder specialist psychologist about how we can help protect our kids' embodiment.But before we get to Colleen, I really wanted to remind you that the Can I Have Another Snack? universe is entirely listener and reader supported. If you get something out of the work that we do here, please help support us by becoming a paid subscriber. It's £5 a month or £50 for the year and as well as getting you loads of cool perks, you help guarantee the sustainability of this newsletter and have a say in the work that we do here as well as ensure that I can keep delivering deeply researched pieces that provide a diet culture-free take on hot nutrition topics like ultra processed foods, the Zoe app and a deep dive on helping kids have a good relationship with sugar.. All of those articles I've already written and you can read at laurathomas.substack.com. And if you're not yet totally convinced, then maybe this lovely review that I got recently will help. So this reader and listener wrote: “I want to support the work you're doing as I think it's really important and I believe that you should be paid for your work.” I agree! “I value the model of subscriber direct support rather than ad revenue. I really like all your comments and interviews on the podcast about internalised capitalism and how it affects our views of things without us even realising. Thank you for spending your valuable time and skills to do all this research and writing it up.I would love to see you talking about all of this in mainstream newspapers, TVs, magazines, and other media. It's such an important topic and I really hope you get more and more moment for your work. Also on a personal note, you are helping me change my children's lives for the better by educating me about all of this. Really appreciate all that you're doing.” Such a kind review, thank you to the person who emailed that in, you know who you are. So yeah, it's £5 a month, or £50 for the year, and you can sign up at laurathomas.substack.com. Or check out the show notes for this episode. And if you can't stretch to a paid subscription right now, you can email hello@laurathomasphd.co.uk for a comp subscription. No questions asked, just put ‘Snacks' in the subject line. All right gang, here's Colleen.MAIN EPISODE Colleen, can you start by letting everyone know a little bit about you and the work that you do?Colleen Reichmann: Sure. So my name is Dr. Colleen Reichmann, and I'm a licensed clinical psychologist and an eating disorders and body image specialist with a small group practice in Philadelphia. We see people virtually and in person, there's 5 of us, we all focus on body image and eating disorders and then sort of sub-niches within that community and and one of mine is also perinatal mental health. That's me professionally. I'm also the co-author of the book The Inside Scoop on Eating Disorder Recovery and a speaker and a writer of other things, and then just a mom, somebody with lived experience of an eating disorder, as well as infertility and IVF. And I have two IVF babies, Ezra and Marigold, who live with me, and two, like, very chaotic dogs, and I live with all of them, and my partner, outside of Philadelphia.Laura Thomas: Wow, there's, yeah, loads of different parts of your identity, I suppose, that I'd love to dig into and talk to you about, but I'd love to start by talking about your journey to parenthood. You mentioned there that you had your babies through IVF and I know you talk really openly about this, uh, on your social media platforms and on your Substack. And I'd love just to help orient the listeners a little bit to some of your experiences, if you could share what that journey has been like for you. Colleen Reichmann: For some reason for me the piece about having both of my babies through IVF feels really important to share. It almost just feels like a lot of my parenthood, like my identity hinges on, it just feels so integral to who I am as a mother at this point and a parent, so I feel compelled to make it like, I have it in bios and even my partner at one point is like, why do you have like your professional psychologist and then also IVF mom?And I was like, I don't know. It just, it feels like it factors so much into the whole lens that I view perinatal mental health at this point. So I was somebody who went through about 5 years of infertility. Once you launch into the process of digging into what's going on with infertility, there's like a cascade of interventions that happens, and mine was pretty standard,. And looking back, I just kind of, like, fell into the cascade and did what everybody said to do.I have, like, just different questions now about the process. But essentially, I did rounds of medication, medicated cycles, and then IUI is kind of, like, the next part of the process. And we had multiple failed IUIs, which is interuterine insemination. And then when you have enough of those, you know, failures, the next step is IVF. Which I would joke with my partner and call it the…what did I call it? What's like the team, you know, in high school, there's like the…varsity! I was like, well, I'm varsity and fertility now because I'm in the IVF process. Laura Thomas: You've graduated on to the next step. Yeah, I guess that you need some sort of like levity in amongst what sounds to me to be like a, an extraordinarily heavy process otherwise..Colleen Reichmann: Yeah. I think infertility and especially, I think IVF is its own specific form of trauma, but infertility is very traumatic in my opinion. And for me, there was like this specific part of it that felt traumatic that I had this whole history of an eating disorder, like a decade long and part of the reason I had…just reasons to recover or reasons to get into a more stable place and having children was one of them.And so it felt like a slap in the face, like I did all the work that I didn't want to do for many years. And I just felt like, I was promised something by professionals, even though that's not true. Like, it was just, it was discussed a lot in sessions.Laura Thomas: No, but I am, I'm just sitting here reflecting on how many times I've…you know, I, I'm not sure that, like, leveraged that is quite the right phrase, but you know when, when people ask me about what are the long term impacts on my health of, of my eating disorder, you know, I will say fertility is, is one of the, one of those long term things.I can see how that's really a double edged sword to say something like that, because, you know, further down the line, if that person goes through the motions of recovery and does that really excruciating work, and then comes out the other side and their fertility…and, and we don't know if I'm not trying to insinuate that people's infertility is necessarily related to their eating disorder or not, but I hear what you're saying is that you were promised this prize at the end of, of eating disorder recovery and it wasn't there for you.And that in and of itself must have been so painful.Colleen Reichmann: It's so painful. There was a specific instance that stuck in my mind. When I was in, I think it was high school or maybe like early college, but really young and I was sitting with a therapist who was also trying to kind of like leverage fertility or I would say trying her best to motivate me, in a way that backfired because I was overly, I was just not in a place to be motivated at that point.But she asked like, do you want to be skinny or do you want to be able to have kids one day? And I remember like…yeah, I remember just saying “skinny”, like looking at her and, it haunted me for like all those years of infertility. I had that in my mind, that like session and that exchange and I was like, I did it.I guess I brought this on myself and I, you know, I said that and I…just like the whole thing was just very complex and painful, and it felt like, yeah, just a twisting of a knife and I… but also like I did it to myself, and it was just a really, they were like devastating years, the years of infertility.Laura Thomas: And it sounds like so much self blame there as well. It's no one's fault yet I can imagine that that adds another layer of sort of pressure and complexity and pain to the situation that was already really upsetting.Colleen Reichmann: Yeah,Laura Thomas: So how did it play out from there? What was the sort of next step, if you will, through these years of infertility?Colleen Reichmann: Well, once I started the IVF process, I ended up actually getting what's called ovarian hyper simulation syndrome. So, I produced like a lot of eggs and then got really sick after IVF, I was actually hospitalised. I then had a lot of embryos from that, which is like, such a great thing, but also was arguably, like, a little bit aggressive, the IVF treatment that I got. But anyway, so we went through the process of several failed frozen embryo transfers and then several transfers that ended in miscarriage and then ended up at some point – after I moved to Philadelphia, because we, I was doing all this while I was living in a different state and then we moved and relocated – and I remember saying, I'll do it. I'll try one last transfer and then I think I need to either pause or just stop this for right now and find another way to pursue happiness. Like, I have to…this is consuming everything. I'm becoming like a husk of a person, like I'm just infertility. And so then that transfer ended up being my now three year old son, Ezra, but I was so burned out by that point that I, when I took the pregnancy test after I had the, like, the two week wait and everything, I left it on the bathroom sink and went to like fold laundry because I was just so sure that it wasn't going to be positive. And then I remember when I came back and saw it, I didn't…my mind after just like years and years and years of only negatives was like, I can't, it must have been a full 60 seconds where I was just like, What's this? Like, what? I could, I could not compute.And then, yeah, after I had him, I did another embryo transfer, another miscarriage, and then my now one and a half year old daughter, Marigold, came after that. Laura Thomas: Wow. There's such a lot to process in there… such a wild, wild roller coaster by the sounds of things. And I can, yeah, I can totally see why you would be in that state of disbelief and kind of not allowing yourself to really let it wash over you, that this thing that you'd longed for for such a long time was, was real.I could imagine that there was a kind of sense that it could be taken from you at, at any moment. And so allowing yourself to just get in touch with that must have been, yeah, putting yourself out there to, to let it be real. You also mentioned, in amongst your IVF journey that there were some losses, some pregnancy losses. You've written really beautifully about pregnancy loss, body image and grief, and specifically about miscarriage as a form of ambiguous loss. This is a concept that I find really helpful just in body image work, body embodiment work generally. But I wondered if for anyone who was unfamiliar with that concept, if you can share that, what that is and what that means and looks like in the context of pregnancy loss.Colleen Reichmann: So ambiguous loss…I guess the simplest definition would be loss without any real closure, loss where there's not…not that there's ever a clear cut path, but where there's a less, even less of a clear cut path than normal from loss to acceptance. And I definitely think miscarriage and pregnancy loss falls underneath that umbrella, for sure, just because there's often loss, with no tangible evidence of ever having anything.Other things, of course, in our society fall under ambiguous loss, like loss where it somewhat, it feels like a death, but the person is still physically present, like if somebody has dementia or, if you're estranged from a family member, things like that. But with miscarriage, I think the concept of ambiguous loss also really connects with the concept of disenfranchised grief, which feels so important, to me, in the discussion of it all.Laura Thomas: I haven't heard that term before. I would love to unpack that a little bit more.Colleen Reichmann: Okay, so disenfranchised grief is essentially…it's grief that's not, like, publicly accepted. It's grief that's not sort of socially acknowledged and interpersonally and socially mourned. So, a lot of times, I like to call grief, like, if you lose a family member, sometimes I'll call it ‘Tupperware Grief' because people, at least at first, hopefully, like, show up with tupperware containers and dinners. Then disenfranchised grief, like that of a miscarriage is more, like, there…oftentimes there's no big show of support. Like, there are no, like, tupperware dinners or people showing up. People don't know how to talk about it even, even less than they know how to talk about just…Laura Thomas: Regular death.Colleen Reichmann: yeah, like, normal grief.And oftentimes when you have a miscarriage, there's also that added component of not having even shared, if it was an earlier miscarriage that you were pregnant. So you're going through this, like, life altering, awful grieving process alone, but you know, you haven't even shared that there's something to grieve and it's just confusing and sad and it's a really specific form of grief, I would say.Laura Thomas: Yeah, I think as a collective, we do so poorly with grieving, you know, as a society, it's privatised, it needs to be neat and tidy and, for example, if somebody dies or if you have a miscarriage or, you know, there are any of these types of life events. We rarely get time off work or leave or anything to just have the space and the time to process some of what's happened to us.I think, you know…what you're saying is there's a sort of additional layer to it where if it's an invisible loss or it's…I don't know, something that, yeah, intangible, I suppose to, to other people…where does that grief belong? There's nowhere to put it really. Colleen Reichmann: Yeah, and so much of grieving that's helpful, like so much of what I think helps grieving people is like physicality and like the presence of others and showing up… Laura Thomas: Community, yeah.Colleen Reichmann: Yeah, like, and I'm, I'm not going to take this from you, like the sadness. I'm going to sit with you in it and I don't have the right words because normally there just are no right words.So, like, let's let you feel the sadness and I'll be here next to you. And with disenfranchised grief, that's almost, like, gone. Like, there is just none of that. Laura Thomas: Yeah. Going back to this idea of ambiguous loss, how do you think that can help us, you know, understand or process our experiences in some way? Colleen Reichmann: You know, I think even the term . Like, even when I just had that knowledge that there was a word for it, that felt so affirming. So just, even understanding, like, that's what you're going through and maybe letting that sort of propel you to reach out, if possible, to people who feel really safe, even just one or two. I can't think of anything just more important for the grieving process of pregnancy loss than some, like, I don't know, catalyst to reach out and share to people who feel safe because that was something I definitely…at least two of the miscarriages just totally had an in silent, like, didn't really share with almost anyone and then changed my process for the third and I had…I remember it was just awful like they always are, but like, I had really beautiful showings of support from friends, like, cards and…I remember one friend sent flowers and then, like, two months after sent another bouquet and was, like, still thinking of you. And I was really touched by that because I was like, oh, it's like, not only is it, would it be a grief that's, like, totally unseen, but even with normal grief, a lot of times you get, like, the initial show of support and then it phases out and this person just is, like, still here, I still love you, you know, like, I know it still hurts. And that was all because I just tried to navigate it differently and asked for help that last time.Laura Thomas: Yeah, I think what…you know, what you're speaking to is this idea around grief that we have to follow a strict protocol, right? Like there's that initial period where you might be allowed to, you know, completely fall apart at the seams, but then you are expected to, you know, do that within the, I don't know, the two to three days that your boss allows you off of work and then afterwards you have to contain your grief, or at least make your grief more palatable to people. And what you're saying is that – I'm sort of reading between the lines here, but there is no timeframe for grief and when it's…when you've had a chance, well, it's never going to go away, is it, but you know, what you're saying is that, yeah, two months down the line, just having someone acknowledge that your pain is still there, that it's still valid, that it's, that someone sees you and is, is holding you. That's so powerful to have that, but in our society, yeah, like you have your allotted time frame for grieving and after that, sorry, no more flowers, no more cards. No one's going to check in on you or give you time off work. I don't know why I'm so like, hellbent on the work thing. Colleen Reichmann: It's so real though. Like, I think during one of my miscarriages, I remember there was a country that happened to grant, I think it was three days off to people who had pregnancy loss. I don't…do you know what country that is? Because I remember it was like in the whirlwind as it was all happening to me, and I was so like in a haze, but also aware of like, that's awesome.And three days, like, and I can't believe we don't even have, there's no three days here. That's for sure. But also like, yay. That's really nice. That's being acknowledged. But three days is nothing like it's an…I don't know, it was just, but the work thing. So it's so real that it's just incredibly difficult to show up to things like work when you're, like, in the haze of grief.Laura Thomas: Well, and I think it just, it speaks to how much society under capitalism dehumanizes our experiences and we are given our allotted time to grieve then you're expected to get back to work and be productive and if your grief spills over into your work, then you know, you're going to have to say something about that. I, I don't know which country it is. I know that they've had conversations about it here in the UK, about having some sort of leave for pregnancy loss and other kinds of losses, but nothing that I know of that is formal at this point. But also again, yeah, like really a few days off work is probably not going to cut it for most people.And you know, alternatively, some people might actually find it really helpful to be at work and be around people and, and kind of taking their mind off of it. So yeah, it's not… there's no one right way to, to mourn or to grieve. Colleen Reichmann: Yeah, so true.Laura Thomas: I also did an episode a little while back with Jennie Agg, who wrote a book about pregnancy loss called Life Almost, and just kind of how there are a lot of unanswered questions around pregnancy loss and infertility.And I'm going to link to that in the show notes for people who haven't heard that, because I think that's also a really helpful resource if yeah, if this is something, a conversation that you need to have more of in your life right now. I also wanted to talk to you a little bit about…I guess you called it body loathing. You talked about this sense of really loathing your body that you had in relation to miscarriage. And if it's okay with you, I'm going to read out something that you wrote as part of a Substack post and I will link to that as well. And you wrote: “The only thing that makes sense, to me at least, is to allow all of these emotions and thoughts to wash over you. Yes, this includes intense body loathing. Don't try to fight it or even shake free from it, at least at first. Honour that these feelings are because this loss, the loss that many others won't even know about is real. It's real and it's excruciating and it's evidence of love.And sometimes when grief is this big and things hurt this badly, we need a place to funnel the pain. If body loathing is the place for you in this moment, that's okay. That has to be okay.” Can you speak to why this idea of allowing body loathing is so crucial because I think it's so counter to the narrative that we are told whether that's about body image in relation to like weight and shape concerns, or, you know, where we're told like, you know that you have to come up with like positives that you like about your body or even in the context of pregnancy related body changes, pregnancy loss, we're told like, well, your body did this amazing thing even if you didn't, give birth. That, oh, well, at least you know, you can get pregnant or like, you know, there's always this like positive spin put on it and, and so it just felt really refreshing for me to, to read, like, no, you're allowed to hate your body and you're allowed to just be really angry with it, and feel let down by it and feel betrayed by it.So yeah, I just wondered if, you know, from a therapist's perspective, if you could explain why that is so powerful and crucial.Colleen Reichmann: Yeah, that, that positive spin felt so offensive to me, especially through that journey in fertility and then pregnancy loss. Like and it just felt like everyone, like, and people were, of course, coming from a good place, but a lot of times it almost felt like…but you will, like, keep going, and I have so much hope for you, and, and, which is, like, maybe sometimes what I needed it, but a lot of times I was like, this is just so painful and like devastating and there's a lot of fear here that my whole life something that I've like wanted is not going to happen and I almost feels like you, you cannot tolerate sitting in it with me.And you're not the one going…like, I'm the one actually like, so if you can't tolerate even being a bystander, you know, that's so upsetting, , and that the idea of, like, allowing yourself to just hate your body and be really mad at it, when it comes to infertility and pregnancy loss, it almost reminds me of, like, the…the chronic illness community often talks about, like, the eating disorder messaging on social media about, like, appreciating your body and loving your body and the function of it and how that feels really invalidating because, like, if my body…if I…what if I don't I appreciate it?What if I'm like, it feels like it's failing me? What if it doesn't function, “like it's supposed to”? Where do I fall in all of this? I feel like I related to that a lot during this process of like, and I'll speak for me just personally, because I also don't want to say other people feel this way, but I felt like my body did let me down.I wanted those babies. Like, so much, and it didn't do what I wanted to do. I can't imagine anything more important in my life than that, and it let me down, like, repeatedly. And I was just, like, I had such rage. And I was like, I just felt like it, it needed to be felt and I needed to be like, no, I don't, I don't need to connect with it right now.Like, I am at this point, just like any relationship we have with like a spouse, for example, your points where you're going to be just so angry and need space from your spouse or your partner. And that's how I felt during that period. And if I didn't want to be, like, pushed to, like, reunite at that time, I was like, no, I want to sleep in different bedrooms.I want time away. I want to, like, hate you. And I do. And that's, that is allowed, at least for me. And then, you know, some of the people that I work with, it's…there's something, like, affirming about that being just full permission, legalise hating your body.Laura Thomas: Yeah. I think, you know, we talk a lot about the concept of being sort of positively embodied and, kind of having this mind-body connection and being attuned to what's going on in our bodies. And I also think that there needs to be space for the fact that sort of disengaging or being disembodied is also protective and powerful and is a coping mechanism.And okay, maybe it's not sustainable forever, but there are times where that, where you just need to be able to check out. Just disengage and it sounds like that was part of your, your process at least, and, and it might be a helpful thing for other people to hold on to, especially in the face of like messaging around…appreciate your body and think about what it can do and, and so on.Like I can, yeah, totally see how that reads really badly when you're in something like that.Colleen Reichmann: Also, I do think some people might find that helpful for pregnancy too, so that it's helpful maybe in pregnancy loss, but also pregnancy can really just be an awful time for, like, to live in your body for some of us, so…that was another time in my life, which is interesting, because I just, there's so much devastation about the losses, but both pregnancies that were completed. I white knuckled it, is the best terminology I can use. I just, like, got through and they were just really hard experiences, probably the hardest physical experiences I've ever had in my life. Like, far beyond, you know, more challenging and uncomfortable than when I was in, like, the depths of the eating disorder.I felt like it was helpful. And I know I've heard other people say this too, to like, be allowed…which is an interesting dichotomy, because I was so grateful, like, I wanted the…I was like, everything in my life had led up to that moment, and I wanted those babies so much, and so, like, hated all of it, pregnancy was just so hard in my opinion. So allowing people to really – if they need to, be really, like, unhappy and disengaged from their body during that time, too, feels like an unpopular message, but one that I think is, like, kind of important.Laura Thomas: Yeah, I completely agree. I think it can, I mean, I know that there are additional layers if you've experienced, you know, pregnancy loss and gone through IVF because, you know, all of that trauma is stored in your body, right? And then you're adding something that is so desperately wanted and at the same time it can feel…I guess it can kind of be activating of everything, all of those other experiences that you've been through emotionally as well as the physical toll that that pregnancy and birth and, you know, everything that goes on in that sort of, especially first year or two years afterwards. It's, yeah, it's so much and…similarly to baby loss. Pregnancy loss or baby loss, we're not given space to grieve…for the grief that I think is an inherent part of pregnancy and childbirth and being a parent in late stage capitalism, like, just all of it.Because, yeah, you know, you have your kids. So Colleen, why are we still talking about it? You should be happy and just getting on with your life. That's the message that we're so often given. Oh, your body did this amazing thing. That's true. And that was a very difficult experience. Colleen Reichmann: Yeah. And people say like, for things like birth trauma, so often you hear again, this is, I guess, goes with that toxic positivity, but like, well, as long as you got your baby, as long as you got a healthy baby, and I'm like, that's so dually insulting to both parents who don't have “a healthy baby” at the end, like, whose babies have, you know, physical or medical issues, and then also to people who did experience, like, trauma, or it was like, you know, they're just things didn't go as planned are also allowed to feel things and to have grief. The main theme here is toxic positivity is, like, really problematic for this stage of life.Laura Thomas: It doesn't serve anyone. And I think that connects back yeah, back to kind of what you were saying about being given permission to just loathe your body in the face of, you know, otherwise messaging that, just tells you to love your body and appreciate the things that it can do. I think we need to make a lot more space for these tensions, these complicated feelings.So not to be like, well, you have your babies now! But also I did want to talk to you a little bit about parenting from the perspective that, you know, you are someone with lived experience of an eating disorder and also an eating disorder therapist raising these children and, I love the messages that you put out around, you know, protecting their embodiment and their relationship with food.And I'd really love it if you could share, you know, a couple of the messages that you feel are most important to pass down to your kids to, I suppose, help disrupt that intergenerational transmission of body shame and disordered eating. Colleen Reichmann: I think about this every day. One thing that I do want to make sure I say, because I just…I feel really strongly that there's a lot of pressure around this generation, like our generation of moms, to break intergenerational toxicity or messaging, and I just feel really strongly that you don't have to be perfectly healed to do that.Laura Thomas: Yes, 100%.Colleen Reichmann: You can be, like, still really struggling and be breaking, like, those intergenerational messages. I think that's really important to know. And also – this might even be, like, a less popular take – but that to not put too much pressure on yourself to break, like, all, like, maybe your role is breaking, maybe you break these ones, and then over there, you're still working on that, or those are, like, you're, like, just, I don't know, I think there's a lot of weird pressure now to be these, like, totally healed mothers.Laura Thomas: There is. And I'm so glad that you said that. I think not only is there a lot of pressure in the form of often, like, you know, things that we should say or do or these, like, scripts that you often read on social media. There's a lot of those and some of them can be really, really helpful. Some of them less so, but I've been thinking a lot about this idea of how sometimes we need to say and do a lot less.Colleen Reichmann: Mm hmm.Laura Thomas: And how that's also okay. You don't have to, like, you know, do like, have all the little scripts memorised. But what might be a good starting point is if you don't talk shit about your own body in front of your kids. Like, if you just don't do that, that, that might be all that is needed.There are helpful things that we can do, of course. But, yeah, I really appreciate you just kind of giving that…that caveat that, yeah, you, you don't have to be all, have everything all figured out. It's enough to be kind of thinking and reflecting and and not saying the shit things.Colleen Reichmann: Yeah, and that…I feel like that is huge. That alone is just so monumental, the shift of like not saying negative stuff about our bodies or other people's, like, it's actually pretty easy once you get…like, it's easy to start to not like, comment on people's bodies, like, once you really get into the hang of it, like, in any direction, like, not comment…compliments or negative things.So that's huge. And at this point, I do also want to say they're one and three, so I'm probably so freaking annoying to, like, parents of older kids. Like, I think I know what I'm talking about or something when I've been in this for like three years.Laura Thomas: You and me both. You and me both!Colleen Reichmann: They're like, what do you know?But for right now, my feeling from what I've seen is that it's almost, like, away from bodies and food. There's messages that are, like, more important. Like, than even the things you say about bodies and food, like, one of the ones that I feel most strongly about, and I say to them, I try to say it every day, is like, I'm so happy you're in this world.Like, I am so happy you're here. The things that you add to my life, I, like, can't even put into words, because I just feel like that's a really, like… there's something very protective about that message, like at least one person in this world is like, thinks like the sun rises and set, like, like, she is just so happy that I'm here, like, that's…and that's also, I like to tell people that because I feel like it's really also easy, like, instead of being perfectly healed and the, you know, the most knowledgeable about all the body positivity things, like, focus on making sure they feel like your just delight in their presence that doesn't have to do with their appearance, you know.Laura Thomas: Yeah, that idea of taking delight in the fact that they're there and they're in your life and, you know, they're gonna absorb that energy as it were. I love that.And also I was just gonna make the caveat that I'm also sometimes displeased to see my child and that's also okay if you have those. Especially at like six o'clock in the morning when I'm like, you're supposed to still be asleep. So yeah, I didn't want that to sound like, uh, an imperative.Colleen Reichmann: I think there was this research, I could be wrong, but I thought there was like research that you just have to do it for like 5 or 10 minutes a day, and that can be fundamental to self esteem building, but I also don't know if that's true. I feel like I could have made that up, but I think, so it doesn't have to be all day long.Laura Thomas: Don't fact check, Colleen.Colleen Reichmann: Yeah, just trust me. But, like, in a similar sense to that, I also think another thing that's just so helpful for, like, our kids and their bodies, is the way we talk about sex and their body parts, like, using the medical terms for body parts and not being…like, I talked in another podcast about how I recognised with my daughter when I was saying the word vagina, that I have felt, vaguely uncomfortable at first. And I was like, whoa, well, there's nobody in her life right now that's gonna like, show her how to feel comfortable and like that my body parts are all allowed other than me. I need to kind of step into that, own it.And so I got a book, like, uh, the Pop Out Vagina Book or something. And we, like, read it every day and I was like…that's another really kind of basic, easy way to show them, this is how to just feel comfortable and, like, safe in your body.Laura Thomas: I love that. I'm going to get the link to that book and put it in the show notes for anyone else who's kind of…yeah, because I mean, I think our generation, we were like given all of these kind of like cutesy code words for labia and vagina and of course it feels uncomfortable because it's the first time that we're really having to use those words in…and teach other people about those words.So, of course, it would feel uncomfortable. I love that you're normalising that. And yeah, there's tons of really cool books and resources that you can use to normalise that. I wanted to ask you just really quickly about one sort of food related message that you shared on, I think it was a Reel. This is a message that you want to instill into your kids where you've said that food is not just fuel. You're allowed to eat for boredom, for pleasure, to self soothe. Your appetite isn't scary for us. Ever. I just love this message so much and I just wanted to hear you kind of unpack that a little bit more.Colleen Reichmann: Yeah, I think my hope is to just make food a really… like, you're allowed to interact with food in the ways that are innate to all of us, and you're never going to be micromanaged, and, like, I will never micromanage you, and I hope that you don't feel the need to micromanage yourself as you get older. Because we all, like, that is a very healthy and okay, like, human drive is to use food we have for, like, you know, ever to, to celebrate, to mourn, to self soothe at times, or hunger, for things other than hunger, like it's.. just hope to be able to foster an environment where it's all allowed and it's never, like, there are never nonverbal or verbal messages that, like, your appetite's scary or, you know, I have a problem with you interacting with food. Like I just really want to be protective of their relationship with it.Laura Thomas: I think that the line that really, really resonated for me was that piece that your appetite isn't scary for us, ever. And I also just wanted to acknowledge that for a lot of people I know listening to the podcast and who read the newsletter, their kid's appetite does feel scary and overwhelming to them.And I just wanted to say, you know, we see you and that is the soup that we're swimming in. So it's totally understandable that you feel like that. And something that, you know, when I'm doing workshops and things on embodied eating, I ask parents to look for the signs that you can trust your child, look for, you know, the signs that they know how to trust their own bodies and think about what we can learn from that. So I'll offer that. I don't know if that's helpful, but I just wanted to acknowledge that yeah, our kids' appetites can be scary sometimes. I'm with you, Colleen. Like, they shouldn't be, but it's the messaging that we've been indoctrinated into thinking.Colleen Reichmann: Like it is very counterculture to say like, your appetite isn't scary and you're allowed to eat to self soothe. So I totally empathize and understand why people do feel like that fear…and it comes from a place like think about the stakes that we feel like we're under with this, like, the stakes that they're trying to sell us are like you're not a good mom or parent if you don't manage food and…yeah in this way or their weight. And that's just scary for everyone, so I have so much empathy for people trying to break free.Laura Thomas: Yeah. But even just again, you know, going back to what we talked about before about not having to be perfect with this stuff, but even, you know, saying to your kids, I trust your appetite, even if you're not 100% there yet. But I think there is something so powerful if you could at least, you know, in giving that message at least.Colleen Reichmann: Yeah.Laura Thomas: All right, Colleen, this has been so great. Like I said to you off mic, there are so many different ways that I felt like we could have taken this conversation. We could have just talked about parenting stuff. We could have just talked about the grief stuff, but we tried to squish it all in. So thank you so much for being here.At the end of every episode, my guest and I share what they've been snacking on. So it could be anything. It could be a show, it could be a literal snack, whatever it is. So can you share with us what have you been snacking on lately?Colleen Reichmann: Yes. Well, thank you for having me. First of all, this was such a great conversation. Okay. I have two. I have a literal snack. I've been loving is these Trader Joe's chocolate sea salt graham crackers that are…Laura Thomas: Stop. I'm so, I'm so like…last Christmas, my brother sent me, like, a huge care package of stuff just from Trader Joe's and it was all their, like, crunchy great snacks and we can't get them here. So, yeah, they sound amazing.Colleen Reichmann: They're so good. They have like, they have it down with the snacks. Laura Thomas: They're really on point with their snacks, yeah. Colleen Reichmann: And those are great for like, I like to have them, especially while I'm reading, which is the other thing I'm snacking on, which I wrote it down, so I did justice to the actual title. I'm rereading…it's called, Like a Mother, A Feminist Journey Through The Science and CultureLaura Thomas: Oh, it's Angela Garbes.Colleen Reichmann: Yes, yes.Laura Thomas: I haven't read that, but I've, yeah, I've read her follow up book, which is Essential Labor. I don't know if you've read that. Oh, so good.Colleen Reichmann: Yeah, I've read that one. I really like both of them. I honestly like, they're just…they're the type of thing you have to read. I'm re-reading this one because I'm like, I feel like there's so much amazing stuff in it and I, oh my gosh, I love. Yeah, her writing is just, incredible. And the way she writes about motherhood is so different than what I've seen elsewhere. Laura Thomas: Oh, man. Yeah. I know. I have thought about going back and reading her first book after coming to her through Essential Labor, and her Substack is great as well if, yeah, if anyone is…I'll link to that in the, in the show notes. So, okay. Yeah. You're making me think I need to go back and read that. So my snack is an illiteral snack this time. So there is another Substack newsletter called that probably everyone is sick of hearing me talk about because I link to them like every week in our like weekly community threads. Ruby Tandoh is one of the writers for Vittles and she did this like deep, deep, deep dive into London ice cream culture and all the different kind of ice creams from…that are not just like gelato and ice cream and like the things that you hear a lot about. And she tried like, I don't know, something like 350 different kinds of ice cream all all across London. She narrowed it down to like a top 16. So this is a really long way of telling you that my snack is one of the ice creams that she talked, I picked, I think it was like number 14 or 15 on the list and it's called Vagabond ice cream. And they do these vegan, like, choc ices. I don't know, what do you call them in the States? Like, choc blocks or some, I don't know, some like, Do you know what I mean? And then it's got, it's got like a layer of chocolate around it. What is that called in the States?Colleen Reichmann: Like an ice cream sandwich?Laura Thomas: No, because that's like, that's like a cookie, right? With cookies on the, on either side.Okay. Someone, I'm sure someone in the comments will let us know, but the flavour is like a peanut butter ice cream and then the chocolate has bits of pretzel around it. So you've got that salty, sweet, crunchy…like it's a textural delight, for anyone who is like a sensory seeker, that's yes, very, very good. Colleen, would you mind sharing just quickly where people can find you and your work?Colleen Reichmann: My website is just ColleenReichman.com and then I have an Instagram which is @DrColleenReichmann. , I tinker around on TikTok under the same username. I struggle with making those, like, educational, though. A lot of them are just silly. And let's see…I started a Threads because everybody's doing it. So I jumped on the bandwagon. Same username. And then I have a Substack, which is Musings From A Mama, which I'm trying to figure out a way to write regularly because it just brings me such joy to write about the complexities of motherhood. And then my email is just colleenreichmann@gmail.com.Laura Thomas: Oh, cool. I don't know that anyone's ever shared, like, straight up shared their email before, but I love…Colleen Reichmann: Yeah!Laura Thomas: Just get in touch, everyone, just…Colleen Reichmann: Come on over.Laura Thomas: No, I really love your Substack and I'm glad to hear that you're going to be thinking of ways to write more often. So yeah, I will link to all of that in the show notes.Colleen, it's been so great to talk to you. Thank you so much.Colleen Reichmann: Yes, thanks for having me. OUTROLaura Thomas: Thanks so much for listening to the Can I Have Another Snack? podcast. You can support the show by subscribing in your podcast player and leaving a rating and review. And if you want to support the show further and get full access to the Can I Have Another Snack? universe, you can become a paid subscriber.It's just £5 a month or £50 for the year. As well as getting tons of cool perks you help make this work sustainable and we couldn't do it without the support of paying subscribers. Head to laurathomas.substack.com to learn more and sign up today. Can I Have Another Snack? is hosted by me, Laura Thomas. Our sound engineer is Lucy Dearlove. Fiona Bray formats and schedules all of our posts and makes sure that they're out on time every week. Our funky artwork is by Caitlin Preyser, and the music is by Jason Barkhouse. Thanks so much for listening.ICYMI last week: How Do You Deal With Clothes That Don't Fit Anymore?* The Audacity of Fussy Eating Advice* The One-upMUMship of Kid Food Instagram* Hey Ella's Kitchen - Food Play Doesn't Solve Systemic Inequity FFS This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit laurathomas.substack.com/subscribe
In this episode, Kenneth sits down with one of his good coffee friends, Jay Reed, the co-host of the Vittles and Vitals and Guys of a Certain Age podcasts. Jay is also a pharmacist and the owner of the 'Eats One Ate' blog - eatsoneate.com. Today, they are taking an in-depth look at K-cups. Most days, Jay uses his Keurig or Nespresso, both of which he has at home, so he is in a good position to talk about this way of making coffee. They cover how K cups were developed, sustainability, how to use coffee you have ground yourself, and other tips. KEY TAKEAWAYS K-cup coffee is fast and easy to use. The Keurig system was originally developed for use in offices. Now, most of their customers are home coffee drinkers. It is possible to grind and use your own coffee using the reusable K-Cup pod, but be careful to buy the right one for your machine. Some K cup machines enable you to increase the temperature, but be aware that the water does not usually hit the right temperature extraction zone. Putting the correct amount of water into the reservoir is important. Kenneth explains how to work out the right ratios. BEST MOMENTS ‘If you like your cup of coffee ,then thumbs up...period. ´ ‘You are giving up quality for convenience.' ‘I was ready to scoff, but like, it scoffed at me.' GUEST RESOURCES https://eatsoneate.com/ https://www.instagram.com/eatsoneate/ https://twitter.com/eatsoneate https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/vittles-and-vitals/id1482632368 https://www.guysofacertainage.com/ VALUABLE RESOURCES Award-winning single-origin specialty coffee: https://umblecoffee.com/ At Umble Coffee, we only roast specialty-grade arabica coffee from around the world with cupping scores 84 and above. Don't sabotage yourself in pursuing your goals - drink coffee that tastes better and is better for you. No crash, great taste, and better long-term health benefits. That's Umble Coffee. Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/umblecoffee/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/umblecoffee/ Twitter: https://mobile.twitter.com/umblecoffee Reusable K cup pod - https://www.keurig.com/ ABOUT THE HOST As a coffee lover, physician, chemical engineer, serial entrepreneur, competitive runner, writer, and family man, Kenneth knows what it's like to push yourself to achieve goals very few accomplish. He's one of the best specialty coffee roasters in the United States as he's a multi-year US Coffee Roasters' Competition Finalist. He created Umble Coffee Co with the belief that, if sourced and roasted right, coffee can taste phenomenal and be good for you. “Life's too short to drink bad coffee.” CONTACT METHOD Want to reach Kenneth? Have questions, show ideas, or want to just let us know you're enjoying the show? The best way is to leave us a great review and put your thoughts in the comment section - Kenneth reads all of them! The second-best way is through DM on social media. BUY COFFEE!: https://umblecoffee.comThis show was brought to you by Progressive Media
Pukka! We're dancing in the moonlight with the king of the English culinary world, Jamie Oliver. How did someone so cringe achieve such dizzying levels of fame and power? How did he end up being an unofficial advisor to Tonty Blair? Special guests Jonathan Nunn and Biz take us through Jamie's Naked Chef years, the Downing Street years and the Jerk Rice years, via the extremely cursed Cookin': Music To Cook By compilation CD. From New Labour and school dinners to the notorious Lamb Curry Song (complete with dodgy Jamaican accent), it's a wild ride with the world's most milquetoast indie soundtrack. *** Why not join our Patreon? *** ONLY £4 A MONTH TO SUPPORT YOUR FAV CULTURAL HISTORIANS AND GET 20+ BONUS EPISODES AND A CURSED OBJECTS STICKER PACK! Jonathan Nunn is a writer and co-founder of online food magazine Vittles. He edited the brilliant London Feeds Itself. Biz is Director of Resonance FM, and has written for the New Statesman, New York Times, The Nation, and the Times Literary Supplement. Theme music and production: Mr Beatnick Artwork: Archie Bashford
Leyla Kazim examines the growing influence apps, maps and lists are having on restaurant recommendations, food writing and the way we eat. Leyla sits down for lunch with Michael O'Shea from the restaurant recommendation app Jacapo, ‘the social network for people who love food,' to hear why he thinks apps like his have the potential to reshape the way people find new places to eat. She meets Jonathan Nunn from online magazine Vittles in Green Lanes, North London, where they discuss the rapid trajectory of lists and map-based recommendations, and what these developments mean for the changing landscape of food media in the UK. We get the thoughts of three restaurant critics on the subject: The Telegraph's William Sitwell, The Evening Standard's Jimi Famurewa and Elite Traveler magazine's Andy Hayler. In Glasgow producer Robbie Armstrong meets Julie Lin at her restaurant Ga Ga, where she talks about the way apps and tech now give restaurateurs instant feedback, and why she welcomes the social media reviewer as much as the classic critic. In Edinburgh, Robbie sits down for lunch with The Times Scotland Restaurant critic Chitra Ramaswamy to hear why she welcomes the democratisation of food reviewing. She outlines why critics continue to play a crucial role, and explains the ethics behind her approach to criticism. Social media influencers mvlondonreviews discuss the blurred lines that can emerge between restaurants and social media reviewers, and the reasons they set clear boundaries before a review. Finally, The Palmerston's James Snowdon recounts the game-changing power a restaurant critic still holds. Presented by Leyla Kazim. Produced by Robbie Armstrong.
Host Peter J Kim takes a trip to the United Kingdom to explore puddings, PFCs, and the mysterious saveloy dip. Food Network host Mary McCartney invites us into her home to talk about the importance of Sunday roasts, and food and music memories with her father Paul McCartney. Jonathan Nunn, the founder of Vittles, guides us through the most important food on the streets of London—and it's not fish and chips. Through it all, listen to music by British rapper, Hyphen, who accurately describes his style as "sexy lounge rap." Our next episode is coming out in just a couple of weeks, but in the meantime, check out Counterjam on Spotify for Peter's playlist of the wonderful musicians from this and past seasons.
Joining me on the CIHAS pod this week is writer and poet, Amy Key. Amy has a new book coming out in April called Arrangements in Blue, which explores living in the absence of romantic love. She also wrote this incredible essay for the Vittles Substack called In Praise of Cravings which I was a little skeptical of at first, as you'll hear us talk about, but which ended up transforming the way I thought about cravings. Amy subverts the idea that we should pathologise our cravings and invites us to explore how food can be a gateway to satisfying non-food cravings as well. Amy also talks really openly about her own relationship with food and how she experienced an eating disorder as a teen, and how part of that healing now is trying on the word fat and noticing how that feels. Can I Have Another Snack? is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.Find out more about Amy's work here.Follow her work on Instagram here.Pre-order Amy's book here.Follow Laura on Instagram here.Sign up to the Raising Embodied Eaters workshop here.Subscribe to my newsletter here.Here's the transcript in full:Amy: And you're sort of doing all this mental gymnastics that, um, for me just became a huge waste of intellectual effort. And I thought to myself, I'm just not prepared give food that bit of my brain anymore and that much time.I'd rather focus it on making delicious food that I enjoy to eat, that I enjoy preparing, that I want to share with other people. And also I'm not prepared to be hungry because if I am hungry, I'm thinking about food all the time. And I, you know, I find that I don't really, don't really have like much snacking type habits because I'm satisfied in a way that I don't think I'd previously been. And it was, that was really liberating for me. Just saying, ah, I'm gonna let, just let all that bit of my brain go, cuz let you know, life's too short for me to devote all this brain power to it and I've got other things I could be doing.INTROLaura: Hey, and welcome to another episode of the Can I Have Another Snack podcast where I'm asking my guests who or what they're nourishing right now, and who or what is nourishing them. I'm Laura Thomas. I'm an anti diet registered nutritionist and author of the Can I Have Another Snack newsletter. Today I'm talking to the writer and poet Amy Key.Amy wrote this incredible essay for the Vittles Substack called In Praise of Cravings, and as you'll hear us talk about, when I first read the essay, I was kind of skeptical about it, but there was this moment in it that transformed the way that I thought about what Amy was saying, and now I can't get the idea of trusting cravings and leaning into cravings out of my head.Amy subverts the idea that we should pathologise our cravings and invites us to explore how food can be a gateway to satisfying non-food cravings as well. So like how creating someone's favourite dish can help us feel connected to someone we miss, and someone who we're longing. Amy also talks really openly about her own relationship with food and how she experienced an eating disorder as a teen, and how part of that healing now is trying on the word fat and noticing how that feels.So we'll get to Amy in just a minute, but first of all, a couple of notes. This is your last shout for my Raising Embodied Eater's Workshop on the 21st of February. It's a 90 minute workshop where we're going to be reflecting on your own relationship with food and your body growing up and thinking about how you want to parent your kids around food and around their bodies.We'll talk about how food rules pressure restriction and trying to micromanage how much and what our kids eat can backfire and harm the relationship with food, and it could also make picky and fussy eating worse. We'll talk about how to support kids innate hunger and fullness cues with flexible structure. We'll think about how to let go of the pressure to feed kids perfectly. We'll talk a lot about embodiment and supporting body autonomy, and also think about ways to respond to food and body shaming comments from family and friends, plus loads and loads more. I'm actually not sure I'm gonna fit it all in. We'll figure it out and there will be some time in the end to ask questions too. So if we don't get to cover absolutely everything we can, you know, answer it in the q and a at the end. And if that sounds good to you, the link to sign up is in the show notes and transcript. Um, it's also on my Instagram bio, so if you're, I don't know, on Instagram, then click click through the link in the bio. It's 15 pounds and the recording will be available for a week after to catch up. You'll also get a copy of my Raising Embodied Eaters download, which is like a 10 page PDF with loads of helpful things that you can share with family and friends. And, um, like I said, there will be some time at the end to answer your questions, so all the links are in the notes, in the transcript and in my Instagram bio.And just before we get to Amy, I wanted to ask a quick favour. If you've been enjoying these episodes, then please think about leaving a review on Apple Podcasts. It lets people who are on the fence about listening know that it's worth their time. Just a few sentences would really mean a lot and help us grow the Can I Have Another Snack family. So thank you if you do that. I super appreciate it. It's a really low-key, we low-key way that you can support the podcast and the newsletter without becoming a paid subscriber, if that's not something that's available to you right now.All right, team, I think you're gonna really love this episode. So let's get to today's guest, poet, and writer Amy Key.MAIN EPISODELaura: Amy, I'd love it if you could share with us who or what you're nourishing right now.Amy: So, I am nourishing my garden by planting all the bulbs that I did not manage to plant before Christmas, because I had a really bad case of flu. And one of the things that makes me so happy in the spring is seeing all the spring bulbs come up, and I hate, hate, hate winter, so it's kind of like a little present to myself that says the future has hope and bright colours in it.Um, so I've been doing that and also I've moved some of the plants that were not flourishing in the places I'd originally placed them. I've moved them into the communal spaces of the garden and I really hope that they'll take root there. So that's what I'm nourishing right now.Laura: Oh, I love that. First of all, I'm slightly relieved that I'm not the only person who is only just thinking in January about my bulbs. I literally overwintered my tomatoes this weekend and we're like almost at the end of January. SoAmy: That's amazing. Are they still doing their business?Laura: Yeah. So I discovered that. So I live in a flat in London. My balcony for whatever reason, I think because it's almost like an internal balcony. So like only one side is exposed and it has like a little microclimate going on, which I think is because I'm losing all the heat through my patio door, but it's like five degrees warmer than like what the weather app is telling me the weather is, right.So, um, yeah, I've got like eight strawberry plants. They're not producing anything, but like, they were like runners from last year and I've got a couple of tomato plants that I think I can salvage. I mean, they're looking a bit ropey, but I think I can salvage. But you know what, the best thing that happened to me at the weekend was I found a little like potted plant that I got from M&S last year that was full of daffodils. And I like tied a knot in the dead daffodils, threw them in a Sainsbury's bag. And then this past weekend I saw the little, the little bulbs sprouting so I've replanted those. Happy days,Amy: I love it.Laura: And I've got a whole bunch of bulbs as well. I spent way too much money at the Garden Center, but that's, that's, this is how we get our kicks. Right.Amy: I love that idea that things are just like waiting under the surface to surprise you. We don't know where they're gonna come up.Laura: And this is such a perfect segue because you alluded well, you didn't allude, you outright said , I hate winter. And that you're waiting for that hope, that promise that that spring offers of a new life and activity. And, and I think that's something that you also alluded to in your essay that you wrote for Vittles called In Praise of Cravings.Amy: Yes,Laura: I wonder if you could tell us a bit about that essay and really what you were trying to communicate through idea of cravings.Amy: Yeah. So, um, maybe I'll talk a little bit about where it came from. So I was at a family member's house and there were little prompts posted about their flat on cupboards and on the fridge that interrupted the person before they opened the fridge door or opened the cupboard and said, stop, think about it. Are you depressed? Are you thirsty? Are you angry? Are you bored? And I found, I found these prompts so depressing because they were, you know, basically trying to interrupt this desire from a kind of moral point of view, you know, that the tone of it felt a bit cruel to me. And I thought, oh, I wish those things weren't there.I wish those things, I wish that everyone could just be in their kitchen. You know, might, they might wanna snack, they might want to eat a stick of celery. They might want to open the cupboards and think about something they'd really like to make for dinner. And I feel like if I was always interrupted in this way, it would make me feel very bad about myself.So I, that's why I wanted to write about cravings from the perspective of thinking about it in like much more colourful, pleasurable ways, you know that you can follow an impulse and you can trust your body to tell you what you might need in that moment, and that that should be free of any judgment. Laura: Yeah. Oh, I can imagine the scene like it sounds like this person maybe has a trickier, complicated relationship with food and they're, they're sending these, well, I guess we're, we're sort of instructed right by diet culture that our, our cravings, our appetite, our hunger is unreliable. It's untrustworthy. We shouldn't ever indulge it, God forbid that we trust our bodies. Right? And that they needed this. Yeah this physical reminder or like this physical manifestation of the food police on their cupboards to interrupt, that yeah, their desires, their, their need for pleasure, which, which is exactly how diet culture functions, but it's, I can imagine that that was really confronting.Amy: Yeah, it was, and I think, because it's taken me a long time to break down some of the shame I feel in eating and like, because my body is a fat body, um, you know, there's always that sense that I should be denying myself food nonstop, let alone the food that I would like to eat. Or that, you know, there's an assumption that if you have a fat body, you are greedy, um, or that you are eating the wrong things in the wrong way at the wrong time. And that made me really sad because actually food is such an exciting, like place for expression, for creativity and for like friendship and communication. And just downright pleasure, you know, like taste sensations, , all of those things. So all that was all kind of in my mind and it was almost, I felt almost like, oh God, I just wanna write a manifesto, if you like. That is just about being in search of, of what it is I want and, and owning that.Laura: Hmm. I love that idea and this sense of kind of conviction really comes through in the essay of like, I own my appetite, I own my desires, I own my cravings. And that it felt really self assured and confident. But from what you were saying there, it sounds like that wasn't necessarily always the case in your relationship with food, and I wondered if you'd be comfortable sharing a little bit more about your relationship with food was like maybe growing up and, and later into to adulthood.Amy: Yeah, I think like, as was the case for like lots of women, probably of my generation who were you know, children and teenagers in the eighties and nineties, there was always dieting in the house. There was always this sense of like, uh, having a body that should be taken in hand because it got out of control, um, and that, you know, those cycles of that happening all the time. And, you know, I just had like a quite average body. And then as I got into my later teens I developed an eating disorder, you know, ate as little as I could, became very thin and was rewarded for, for being thin. I was rewarded with attention, you know, concerned attention, and, um, I was rewarded by the sense of being able to wear clothes that were much smaller and having access to all of that, that too. But that period of my life didn't last very long, and I remember as I was like a young adult in, you know, in my early teens and sort of settling back into what was probably just my normal body, which wasn't a thin body, um, feeling like I'd somehow like lost this battle of wills and I'd somehow not mastered the art of having a body that was a respectable body in society, um, if that makes sense. And it, it's taken me a really, really long time to try and, unlearn that, like to try and let go of this goal that I probably had at some point, which was, oh, I know that I can be thin, so I'm gonna try and return to that teenage body again. And it'll probably happen at some point in the future if I just, you know, work, work hard enough. And it was, it was through really making sure that I engaged with content showed fat people, um, and you know, like the body positivity movement for, for all its faults has in some ways been really, really helpful for me. So, replacing the negative images with really positive ones and just making sure that a, I broaden my own scope of what is beautiful, for example, what is good and what is, um, you know, what wellness should mean has really helped me, I think, become a lot more accepting of where my, you know, where my body is and helped me break free of a cycle, I guess, of denial, of contrition of you know, self admonishment that just made me unhappy, but also just was terribly draining on the brain because I found that I filled up so much of my brain with ideas about what I was going to eat, that I sort of lost any enjoyment in eating. So the thing that's changed for me in terms of like how I eat is that previously, and I think for much of my life, cause I wasn't trusting what I felt like I wanted, what I desired, I would be like mentally trying to like problem solve something else that might fix that desire, but it could never, never be fixed.You know, it might be eating several different things as, and then realising that no, no, I'm still hungry. So like you go to the fridge and you get this one thing, and you're like, if I'd just eaten a slice of toast with some butter on it, that probably would've completely fixed that craving that I had.But instead, I ate four raspberries, a handful of nuts, a square of cheese, and it just gets very, very elaborate. And then, and you're sort of doing all this mental gymnastics that, um, for me just became a huge waste of intellectual effort. And I thought to myself, I'm just not prepared give food that bit of my brain anymore and that much time.I'd rather focus it on making delicious food that I enjoy to eat, that I enjoy preparing, that I want to share with other people. And also I'm not prepared to be hungry because if I am hungry, I'm thinking about food all the time. And I, you know, I find that I don't really, don't really have like much snacking type habits because I'm satisfied in a way that I don't think I'd previously been. And it was, that was really liberating for me. Just saying, ah, I'm gonna let, just let all that bit of my brain go, cuz let you know, life's too short for me to devote all this brain power to it and I've got other things I could be doing.Laura: Yeah. Yeah. And it sounds as though letting go of that anxiety and fear and concern about food and, and not letting it take up as much space in your brain open things up for you is thatAmy: Oh yeah, definitely, I think so. Yeah, you know, it makes me want to say, for example, write, write about food. It makes me want to grow food, or talk to people about it without that sense of it being a problem that I need to resolve.Laura: Yeah.Amy: I do have a fat body and some people think that that's not okay. But I am grateful to live in the body that I live in and I haven't got a perfect reaction to the way in which fatness is perceived like far from it, but I have certainly become a lot more relaxed about other people's opinions about how my own body should look because cuz it's none of their business and it's certainly none of their business what I eat.Laura: Oh, I'm so excited by everything that you've just said there that, um, I'm trying to figure out where I want to dig deeper, and I think one thing that that stood out for me, and it's something that I kind of bump up against quite a lot in, in my clinical work and just through conversations with people who've read my books, is the, the idea that you alluded to where you've attained a thin body. Now in your case it was through, um, an illness and for other people it's through oftentimes disordered eating and the, the head space that is devoted to food being sort of 90% of your brain sometimes. And then being afforded some of the privilege that that confers, right, the thin privilege and then losing that privilege through our bodies changing as bodies are want to do. Right.Amy: Yeah.Laura: And, and then it sounds as though there was this kind of, um, enduring desire to return to that, to maybe return to that privilege. And I just wondered if you could speak, speak to, to that and, and how, you know, a lot of people talk about grieving within ideal or, you know, just having to navigate letting go of what we're told that weAmy: I think it's so hard cuz it's also for me, it's bound up in, in ageing a little bit as well. So I'm 44 now and like the point at which I was thin was like maybe two years between like 17 and 19. And I think it's somehow how you tell yourself that that was the one true you and like how you are supposed to be, even though rationally, I know that it took so much, um, sort of powers of delusion and control for me to be that way. It was never gonna be the same again. It's not something that I know, you know, I know that it's not something that I could just practically maintain, even if I attained it temporarily, and part of me thought, oh God, I don't wanna go through that again.You know, this idea of, because people do, I was thinking about this the other day about, there was a point in my life where some people close to me got very thin and I watched them be praised more than, I'd seen them be praised for anything else in their life. And that really disturbed me because, yeah I found it really disturbing and I also thought, I know that that's bullshit, so I'm not prepared to. I'm not prepared to sort of give that power, because that's one thing I can control. I can say I am not gonna reward people for losing weight. Like, it, it's tricky cuz you want, you want to be supportive of people who want their bodies to be particular ways and, and, I dunno what I'm trying to say here, but. Everyone should be able to be in control of what goes on in their body basically. That's what I think. Um, but I think disengaging from diet talk and disengaging from saying to people things like, oh, you've lost weight, or That is flattering, or talking about myself in derogatory ways has been. It's like a practice that I just need to keep on with because I think if I lose that I could very easily fall into a kind of self-loathing trap again, and I would never be thin again. But I would feel a lot worse about myself. Like it wouldn't matter how many diets I did, I would never be that thin again. I might, you know, and so it, yeah, to me, it feels like, you know, like a black hole that would just take all of my energy and give very little back. Laura: Yeah, and I think you spoke there too, the idea of, of body autonomy, and that's such an important piece of this conversation. I think that, you know, I would never want any individual who was pursuing weight loss, intentional weight loss to feel shamed about that. But it also, we don't exist in, in a vacuum and you know, I think slightly delusional if we think that it's entirely under our own volition this desire to be thinAmy: Oh yeah,Laura: And we're swimming through diet culture, which of course, as we know, and you spoke to there as well, is the nexus of ableism, ageism, patriarchy. White supremacy. You know, it's, it's just kind of a an easily identifiable way of naming all of these ways that we are oppressed.Amy: No, I think it's so interesting cause I was reflecting on how I was talking to somebody about how they wanted to lose weight ahead of a special occasion and they said, oh, you know, I just wanna look nice in the photos. And if you are fat, it's quite hard to hear that and think, ah, Do I mess up photos because I haven't become thin?Uh, you know, and, and I'm somehow unacceptable photographically to the world. But if I were thin, then um, I would look nice and it would be recorded that I once in my life look nice as a thin person in a photograph. And when you start interrogating that more, I think you've go gods this is a load of nonsense that it, but it's so hard to unlearn because it's just everywhere. And I think, yeah, like you say, if you are, you know, I'm lucky because I'm cisgendered, I'm white woman. You know, I've got blonde hair and blue eyes, some, some western beauty ideals. But I am ageing and I am fat. And I am single and all of those things society does not accept or think, you know, they think you, well, you should sort yourself out because you are almost like wasting your body on the world if, if you are gonna allow yourself to be in this way. And that's the way it could feel sometimes.Laura: That's such an interesting idea that you just presented this sense of, of wasting your body.Amy: Yeah. Like, why be fat when you could be better looking? Like, it feels like that that's, that's the kind of choice that, that, um, people think you're making, like this choice to be less attractive. Like why are you being less attractive for me when you could be more attractive to me , if that makes makes senseLaura: Hmm mm-hmm. Yeah. No, I think it's just, it speaks to how fucked up our cultural values are or where we put our values as a society on aesthetics, on appearance, on this outward socially constructed idea of beauty or, yeah, which bodies, which people hold value and, and which don't. And it's, yeah, like when you start to kind of tug at that a little bit, it, it become, it unravels pretty quickly. I don't know how we can defend these ideas.Amy: I don't, I remember like having a conversation with a friend where I was talking about how when my, uh, one of my grandparents died, I was given a thousand pounds, like, which was the money that they'd left in their will, and I spent some of it on a laser hair removal machine, and I remember saying to my friend, , oh yeah you know, I can't cope with having both hairy legs and being fat and you know,Laura: Hmm.Amy: Together, like that's, that's even, that's even worse. Like I can only deal with the kind of emotional armour I have to put up with on one thing without there being another bit of my body that other, that people are gonna be objectionable to, which is kind of cowardly if me, in a way that I felt I needed to do that, but it was almost like, I can't deal with having more things that people will find undesirable about me.Laura: No, I've definitely heard and felt, you know, similarly that, you know, well, I guess it speaks to how we can only, there's only so much that we can deal with as individuals, even when we're kind of well versed in, you know, even when we hold deeply feminist values and we are, you know, committed to body liberation, but there's only so much that we can do on our own there's only so much armour that we can, can continue to, to put up. And so I think for a number of folks, when we come to fat positivity, fat liberation, there is this sense that, okay, I can be fat. And I have to be beautiful. And I have to be young, and I have to be, I have to perform health. I have to, um, you know, in some other way exonerate myself.Amy: Yeah, I've certainly heard a lot about that. You know, like people saying, you know, uh, I'll choose a salad when I'm eating, with some people who feel like inhibited by what other people might think is okay for them to, I mean, I will eat what I want and I'm lucky, I think because the people who surround me, you know, wouldn't be pay that any attention whatsoever.And it must feel so horrible to feel like you've gotta perform this idea of like the perfect fat person who exercising all the time and proving all the time that they eat healthily and all of this kind of stuff. But if you reject those notions of, of healthy ness as we are sold it in like a capitalist society, which is very different really from I think what we would like to embrace as an idea of health then I think we would all be a lot better off.Laura: Mm. But I think what I was kind of searching for before and, and struggling to find was, okay say we accept that bodies change and our body weight tends to track in or trend in one direction, right? And, I think, you know, holding onto these other, you know, whether it's about body hair or beauty or fashion or, um, you know, the fucking cosmetic industrial complex, like what it fundamentally boils down to is safety and keeping ourselves safe in a world that does not value our existence.Amy: Yeah. And that's really tough, isn't it? Particularly I think when you look at how health, healthcare seems to be orientating around, I mean, has for a long time, I guess, but orientating around like this idea that some people deserve to be treated and some don't. I've just realised it's tricky for me to talk about, cause I work in healthcare. Um, I feel like basically if fat phobia becomes, I mean, it's hugely prevalent anyway, but if it also becomes sort of state legislated as an unacceptable practice through laws and guidance and procedures and policies that are enacted through work, through healthcare education and so on. That's, it's just gonna make the lives of fat people so much worse. And it certainly won't make anyone thinner. Laura: Yeah.Amy: you know, if we as a country are serious about mental wellbeing, then we can't be going down that road.Laura: Yeah. I think what you're speaking to is this sort of neoliberal idea of personal responsibility and, and how we are all, You know, it's our duty as good citizens to control and restrict our bodies and to, you know, it's our job, it's our responsibility to stay thin for the good of the country and, you know, this is what is expected of us.Amy: Yeah, so that we are more productive and that we cost the state less and all of this, all of this business.Laura: Yeah. Yeah. something I was thinking about, well, I have, I guess, a confession to make that. When I first started reading your essay, when it got delivered to my inbox, I started reading it and I was really skeptical at first I was a little bit like, okay, where's this going? And then I'm gonna read this back to you. I read the line, “As a fat woman, I can feel inhibited talking about food because the gaze from which I imagine and know I'm perceived is one of greed as though I can't be trusted with my own appetites. Because of my fatness, I'm disallowed hunger. I refuse to be disallowed craving.” Sorry, I'm butchering your writing there. But that changed everything for me because, and I realised I was reflecting on it and I was like, up until that point, I assumed you were a thin person talking about your cravings.Amy: Oh, that's so interesting.Laura: And I think I'm doing this a disservice by assuming that they would've put some sort of like, I don't know. I'm not gonna like name tag anyone here, but you know, there was a very specific image that came to my mind of who you were until I read that line and I was so relieved because I felt like I could trust you. I felt like I could trust what you were saying.Amy: That's so interesting because I was really unsure about putting the fact that I'm fat in the piece. Um, for a couple of reasons. One, because. I'm still dealing with like the internalised shame of saying out loud to the people that I'm fat as though they haven't already noticed.It's almost like, you know, it's like, oh yeah of course other people are gonna see me as a fat person, but you know, sometimes in my head, that's not part of my self-image. I dunno what my self-image is, but, it's maybe my self-image isn't as embodied as it needs to be somehow. Um, so every time I say I'm fat, I'm like practicing becoming comfortable with that, owning it and, and using it as a term that is, is a neutral term. It's like a statement of fact. So like not in the space of, I know, and this is, you know, I'm supportive of this, but like trying to claim it as a word of pride. Just more in the space of this, this is a word we can use and it's okay. It's not gonna hurt me and I'm not gonna hurt myself by using it. So I wondered about that. And then I wondered also about writing about, you know, cravings and pleasure and colour and keeping things in this like very sort of sensory saturated, um, place, which is where the essay is predominantly. I wondered whether it had a place in there, but I realised that. It was so fundamental. The idea of having a fat body was so fundamental to almost like the, the cheekiness I felt in deciding to write about cravings and saying, I'm going to have fun writing about cravings. And I'm not going to be looking over my shoulder for people who think that I am wrong,Laura: yeah.Amy: So, um, it's really interesting that it's something that, it made the essay more persuasive for you. That's quite interesting for me to hear. Laura: It felt subversive. It felt like a fuck you, it felt like, I'm here and I'm owning this and you can't take this away from me. Um, and that, that really sealed, sealed the deal for me, and then I went back and reread it through that lens. And , I'm not trying to say like, you have to be fat to be trustworthy, or you have to be fat. Yeah, to take pleasure in food. But it just, it just shed a different light on it for me. So I was really, um, I think grateful to you for, for disclosing that because there was no picture of you. I didn't know what you looked like untilAmy: I mean, I feel like I totally get it because I, I often start out reading from a point of pure skepticism, particularly personal essays where, you know, say it's, um, somebody writing about, um, how I'm only 28 and I've just bought my first house. And then you get to the end and it's like, oh yeah, it's because you got 30 grand from your parents. And you got to live in granny's attic for two years. So this kind of disclosure is important for credibility of what people say. So I'm, I'm totally with you.Laura: Yeah. Well, there's something else that I wanted to ask you about. Sort of coming back to this essay. At the beginning you talked about food being exciting, being a place for creativity and connection, and I just wondered if you could. This is obviously what you explore in the essay and I'll link to it.It's a paywall piece, I believe, but it's like, if you don't have a subscription to this, what are you doing with your life? Honestly, But I just wondered if you could kind of Yeah. Try and sum up the feeling or feelings that you were connecting to and expressing through food. Subsequently through this essay.Amy: So I live alone. I think, I think I write about this in the essay a little bit. I live alone and I think when you live alone, you're often sort of encouraged. You are not encouraged, but there's a sort of sense that if you are just one person, food doesn't need to have a sense of occasion to. Like you, it's more functional and it's just me so I'll just get this, I'll just eat this ready meal or I don't bother. If it's just me, I'll just have beans on toast or, or whatever. I love, I love beansLaura: I was gonna say, that's a fine food. Don't knock me.Amy: food. And, and you know, I have a very elaborate beans on toast method of course that I cherish. I do want to challenge that and sort of work against it and think what is something that I can make for myself that really sort of vibrates with its meal just for one type intention and, you know, and things like that might be having a steak that is cooked just the way that I want it, that gets the flat all full of smoke and that I can eat with, um, you know, some oven chips and it feels very, very decadent. But I'm not impressing anyone. I'm just going for it on myself. And I think, giving yourself a, a, like a treat, a special treat, and paying attention to yourself as somebody who is deserving of, of pleasure, of decadence, of nourishment, um, even when nobody is looking or there's nobody to share it with.That that is something that's always behind how I think about food. And sometimes, you know, it, it might be like spending hours making a chicken stock and making sure that I've got some soup for myself during the week, or.Laura: Yeah.Amy: or standing over the sink eating a pear, uh, which is something that I write about in that essay and something that I did last night, I sliced it up and then there was just juice everywhere and I was just really enjoying this moment of being alone with my pear. But then there's also doing that for other people and the conversations that that might generate across a dinner table and how, for some reason, at a dinner table, I always feel at home and ready to get to know somebody better. That's really important for me and how I think about what food, the role food is playing in my life.Laura: I think there's something so interesting that I'd never really considered before about the narrative of what it means to, you know, the cooking for one. And yeah, how it's framed as being just really perfunctory and something that you have to do and, and that it's, there's no sense of occasion and the extension of that is that the only reason to kind of make, um, a song and dance about cooking, about preparing food, about sitting down to enjoy a meal is if you're doing it for someone else, but in, but very specifically in the context of a relationship, right? Like,Amy: Yeah, it's all bound in with like romantic love, I think. And it, I kind of write a little bit about this in, in my book. So I've got a book coming out in April called Arrangements in Blue, which explores living in the absence of romantic love.Laura: Hmm.Amy: And one of the things I kind of say in there is, you know, I'm not saying, I'm not saying that making a six pan five hour meal for one person is a radical act, but it kinda is cuz it's kind of saying, you are, you are, you are worth this effort.And if I didn't make any effort for the meals for which I prepare for myself, So many things would be off the menu for me. I'd be like living quite a grueling life. So, it's really important that I kind of push the boat out for myself basically.Laura: Yeah, yeah. No, I love, I love that idea a lot that, you know, in a, and I don't mean this in a like, Bubble bath self-care way, but in a, like, I am actually gonna invest in myself because I deserve the pleasure, the joy, the nourishment, um, the fulfillment that, that comes from not just the process and the act of cooking, but eating and enjoying this food as well.At the end of every episode, I ask my guests, Who or what is nourishing them? So what, what has been nourishing you in this season of, well, shit winter, January season, but also I am gearing up to, to publish a book and.Amy: Yeah, I feel very insecure. It's horrible. It's like I can't tell whether I'm waiting for something great to happen or waiting for something terrible to happen, but it's just this prolonged feeling of anticipation I'm not great with. So I think the, who's nourishing me, so my two cats, Minnie and Bam Bam, have been absolute stalwarts, always there for the scriptures and, you know, stupid faces. And. You know, just general demands on my attention, which is good distraction. My best pal Becky, who has been listening to me have every single neurotic thought that you can havepre publication and probably I should put a special mention in for my agent Ang who, um, has also had to deal with the kind of tremors of, uh, pre-publication. So they've, they've all been fantastic and I, I owe them a lot for their kindness and, and friendship.Laura: I'm glad that you have people caring for you during what is, I know a very, very anxious and yeah, I know that, that pre-publicationAmy: Yeah,Laura: Like black hole. It's a lot. Okay. And very, very last question is what are you snacking on at the moment? So, it can be anything from a literal snack that you are enjoying eating all the way through to something you're watching or reading or listening to. So what do you have for us?Amy: So, I finished reading a couple of weeks ago a book called Kick the Latch by Kathryn Scanlan and is so amazing. It's a kind of novel made out of conversations that, uh, Kathryn had with a horse trainer called Sonya. It sounds like a strange premise for a book, but it's like a, a jolt to the brain.Laura: Ooh, I need one of those.Amy: Yeah, it's really, really fantastic. It's published by Don BooksLaura: Okay. I will link to that in the show notes. I'm very intrigued by that. Um, okay. My thing is definitely not as lofty. So, I, this is an Instagram account that has kind of blown up recently. Uh, you might have come across it. So the person is Lisa Timmons, and she, I think, Or they're a comedian.And, they basically they make these reels where they do a voiceover of celebrities like Jennifer Aniston, Gwyneth Paltrow, like cooking in the kitchen, and then just like voiceover with like, I'm such a privileged fucking white lady and just that, it's just always so on point and like I was just watching one before we got on the call and it was basically, it was Gwyneth Paltrow chopping up some salad and like it probably had like, did not have enough calories to sustain a human being. And the voiceover was basically just like, you know, like, and uh, the idea here is to get as few calories as possible so that you have brittle fucking bones as you grow older.It's just like, yeah, that is what happens when you don't eat enough food. So that's my recommendation, Lisa Timmons Instagram. It's very funny if you, especially if you are navigating, unlearning and unsubscribing diet culture. I will link to that in the show notes. So you briefly mentioned you have a book coming out in April.You wanna tell us, um, how we can pre-order that and where people can find more of your work?Amy: So if you go onto the Penguin website, which I think is penguin.co uk, you can find my book Arrangements in Blue. It's published by Jonathan Cape and there were lots of pre-order links on there. And you can also follow me on Instagram or Twitter.Laura: We will make sure that the links are right there for anyone who wants to go and pre-order Amy's book. And I think you have some more of your writing on your website as well, which I'll link to. And your piece In Praise of Cravings, which we've talked a lot about. I'll link to that in the show notes.Amy, it was such a delight to talk to you. Thank you so much for being here, and I can't wait to read your new book.Amy: Oh, thank you. Thank you for having me.OUTROLaura: Thank you so much for listening to this week's episode of Can I Have Another Snack? If you enjoyed this episode, please take a moment to rate and review in your podcast player and head over to laurathomas.substack.com for the full transcript of this conversation, plus links we discussed in the episode and how you can find out more about this week's guest. While you're over there, consider signing up for either a free or paid subscription Can I Have Another Snack? newsletter, where I'm exploring topics around bodies, identity and appetite, especially as it relates to parenting. Also, it's totally cool if you're not a parent, you're welcome too. We're building a really awesome community of cool, creative and smart people who are committed to ending the tyranny of body shame and intergenerational transmission of disordered eating. Can I Have Another Snack? is hosted by me, Laura Thomas, edited by Joeli Kelly, our funky artwork is by Caitlin Preyser. And the music is by Jason Barkhouse. And lastly Fiona Bray keeps me on track and makes sure this episode gets out every week. This episode wouldn't be possible without your support. So thank you for being here and valuing my work and I'll catch you next week. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit laurathomas.substack.com/subscribe
You'll have to forgive my self-indulgence in this conversation, because I've gone deep with Joshi Herrmann—not a celebrity name or a celebrated author, I hope he won't be offended by me saying—about a bunch of things that scratch my particular interests in media: local news, New York media-startup scandals circa 2016, subscriptions versus ads, venture capital, and canceled Netflix comedians. Joshi is the founder of a fledgling media empire anchored by The Mill, a local news publication covering the city of Manchester, England, that he launched in 2020. The Mill, which is based entirely on Substack and funded by subscribers, just reached profitability—a rare success story in a space (local news) that hasn't exactly been booming in recent years. Encouraged by The Mill's progress, Joshi has since launched similar publications in Sheffield and Liverpool based on doing high-quality, low-volume longform reporting on issues that matter to cities that are poorly served by the existing media structure. Joshi was a reporter for the Evening Standard in London for four years before, in 2015, he moved to New York for a dream job as the editor in chief for a startup that published The Tab, a news site written by university students and young people about the cultural issues of the time. The Tab quickly gave rise to a spinoff publication called Babe.net, which shot to notoriety after publishing a story that detailed a young woman's bad night with Aziz Ansari, which led to the comedian's “cancellation.” The story came at the height of #MeToo, causing a fiery debate between people who felt it was an important reckoning for behavior that happens often but is under-discussed and those who felt it muddied the lines between truly abusive behavior and something closer to a bad date. Joshi watched it all unfold from an uncomfortable position: he was the editor on that story…Joshi's recommended reads:The Bluestocking, PassTheAux, and Vittles.Show notes* Subscribe to The Mill in Manchester on Substack, as well as its sister sites, Sheffield Tribune in Sheffield, and The Post in Liverpool* The Tab and Babe.net* Aziz Ansari story on Babe.net and Ansari's response* NYT commentary on the Babe.net piece* The Cut on Babe.net* [1:46] Breaking even in local news* [1:55] Feeling like a fraud* [4:48] Getting into local journalism* [8:07] On losing a parent* [12:00] Pursuing an unpromising venture* [13:55] Redefining the problem of local news * [18:56] Joining The Tab in New York* [22:41] Steroidal audience growth vs. community* [25:25] The “bullshit” of new media's gold-rush era* [26:37] How Babe.net started* [28:28] How Babe broke the Aziz Ansari story* [30:17] How the Ansari story relates to Me Too* [38:06] Lessons from being on the other side of the story* [39:51] Reflections on that time* [41:40] Adapting a new approach to longform* [44:48] Shutting down The Tab and Babe.net* [46:06] Life lessons for The Mill* [47:55] Launching two sister sites in the U.K.* [48:38] The public hunger for great local journalismThe Active Voice is a podcast hosted by Hamish McKenzie, featuring weekly conversations with writers about how the internet is affecting the way they live and write. It is produced by Hanne Winarsky, with audio engineering by Seven Morris, content production by Hannah Ray, and production support from Bailey Richardson. All artwork is by Joro Chen, and music is by Phelps & Munro. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit read.substack.com
We end the season at a party where guests bring dishes filled with nostalgia and pepper and discuss what pepper means to them. The guests include novelist Emma Hughes, Vittles founder and editor Jonathan Nunn, chef and writer Chloe-Rose Crabtree, previous guests Jenny Lau, Pam Brunton, Tomas Heale and special guest Dr. Masing's mother, Fiona Mowlem. Taste of Place is part of Whetstone Radio Collective. Learn more about Taste of Place here. Find show notes here.And transcript here.
Alright folks, here it is! The final episode of Season 1 of the Can I Have Another Snack? podcast (keep an eye out for Season 2 in the new year!) - and we're ending with a bang! This week I'm chatting to Katie Greenall, theatre maker, writer, and performer of the award-winning autobiographical solo show ‘Fatty Fat Fat'. We speak all about Embodiment and disconnection from our body, and discuss how we can handle a funky body image day. They also give us the inside scoop on their upcoming show ‘Blubber'.Find out more about Katie here.Follow her work on Instagram here.Follow Laura on Instagram here.Here's the transcript in full:Katie: I've had like lots of us have, or on the, on the road to having, I hope, this sort of glass-shattering moment where you are like, Oh, I can live in my body, in my case, in my fat, queer body and be happy. Those things can coexist. I do not have to change the other thing in order to be happy. And I mean, happy in the fullest of sense. I mean, successful in whatever successful looks like, loved, cared for, fed, cherished, admired, like whatever that looks like. And, and that can change. And for the first sort of two decades of my life, I did not realise that I could be fat and any of those things.INTRO:Laura: Hey, and welcome to the Can I Have Another Snack podcast where I'm asking my guests who or what they're nourishing right now and who or what is nourishing them. I'm Laura Thomas, an anti-diet registered nutritionist, and author of the Can I Have Another Snack? newsletter.Today I'm sharing the last episode of Season One of the Can I Have Another Snack? podcast. I'll be back in January with ten brand-new episodes with some incredible guests. And in the meantime you can follow along on the Can I Have Another Snack? Substack where I'm gonna be sharing some really cool features over the holiday period including my emo kid Christmas playlist, an anti-diet gift guide, and some guest holiday pieces from Kristen Scher and Virgie Tovar. You're not going to want to miss them, they're seriously great and I can't wait to share them with you. So make sure that you're signed up to receive those posts at laurathomas.substack.comAlright team, I am so pumped to introduce you to today's guest. Katie Greenall is someone whose work I've followed for a long time, and I'm really excited for you to hear this conversation.For those of you who don't know Katie, they are a facilitator, theatre maker and writer living in London. She makes autobiographical work that often explores fatness, queerness, and community alongside making work with young people and communities across London. Previously, Katie performed her award-winning autobiographical solo show, Fatty, Fat, Fat and is currently developing their new show Blubber, which we're gonna talk about in this episode. We're also gonna talk about embodiment and feeling disconnected from our bodies, and how Katie handles a funky body image day. Before we get to Katie, just a reminder that Can I Have Another Snack? is entirely reader-supported. We don't have sponsors or do adverts or anything like that. I don't make money from affiliate links. I'm not trying to sell you anything that you don't need. All I ask is that if you value the space and the community that we're building, then please consider becoming a paid subscriber.Can I Have Another Snack? is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.Yes, you get perks and bonuses and all of that great stuff. But more than that, you make this work sustainable and accessible for everyone. It's five pounds a month or 50 pounds for the year. And if that's unaffordable for you just now, please email hello@laurathomasphd.co.uk with the word snacks in the subject line, and we will hook you up with a comp subscription. No questions asked. Also consider gifting a subscription to one of your pals this holiday season, or getting someone to gift it to you. Alright, team, let's get to our last guest of the season, Katie Greenall.MAIN EPISODE:Laura: All right, Katie, can you tell us who or what you are nourishing right now?Katie: I love this question. I would like to think that especially this week, I am nourishing myself. I am really trying to form some new habits this week. I've had a bit of a, I'd say a few big few months of lots of different things, particularly work-wise. And so this week I'm really focusing on building some new habits and just like getting my shit together a little bit.And so, I've really been finding that really nourishing for me. Uh, so I would say top of the list, I'm nourishing myself. That isn't usually the case. That's usually, if I'm being really honest and reflective, that self and nourishment is usually much further down. But I'm really kind of stepping into that this week, which is why having this conversation with you feels like really beautifully timed because, um, yeah, I genuinely for the first time in a long time feel like I'm doing some nourishing of myself.Laura: It sounds like that's kind of unfamiliar to you.Katie: Hmm. Yeah.Laura: I guess I have two questions on that. Like one is what, you know, what is difficult about that for you usually, secondly, you know, what is that, that self nourishment looking like for you at the moment.Katie: I think it's difficult for a number of reasons. It's difficult because, one, I work a lot, um, So a big part of my job is facilitating and holding space for other people. Um, predominantly that's working with young people in different theater settings. Like I run lots of young companies, I work in schools, or with other, in other community settings.So like my literal job is holding space for other people, um, maybe similarly to yourself, uh, or in a, kinda, in a very different way. But that idea of, of a big part of what I do is holding and hopefully nourishing other people, nourishing artists or, um, yeah, like young people, to be able to achieve what they want to achieve, to access new skills and stuff like that.And so often when I get that, a lot of that work happens in evenings and at weekends. And so just stuff like eating meals and going to bed and having any sense of routine, which is something that is really important to me, just gets pushed further and further and down the list. And the more, you know, it was just definitely not revolutionary, but like the more tired you get, the more you feel like you're, it's harder and harder to keep hold of any of those things. So that's one thing. I think secondly is that I've been taught I shouldn't be taking care of myself. That like I, that me and my fat body don't deserve care. And sometimes that is really hard to challenge. Sometimes it's really hard to have the extra energy or capacity to be like, Oh, not only am I gonna give myself the care or the nourishment, Which I think is such a beautiful word, but not, not only am I going to do that, but I'm also, that takes energy in itself. I also have to take the next level of energy, which is to do that in spite of a structure that is trying to stop me from doing that. And so it's really hard and I've spent a long time knowing that, now I've come to realise, understand more about fat liberation and the capitalist structure and diet culture and all of those things, the more I've realised I can't and don't want to go back to having, having those thought cycles. Sometimes I don't have the power or the capacity or the strength to, to challenge them. And so I exist in this sort of no man's land instead. And so yeah, it feels really nice to be able to have the capacity, and time and resource to be able to kind of apply that nourishment to to myself.Laura: Yeah, that's a really, um, there's something quite striking in what you've just said, you know, and I think a lot of us experience this from time to time, like intellectually understanding that we are being oppressed by systems that, you know, that don't care about our lives or don't care about our wellbeing, that only find value in us if we are producing and conforming and looking a certain way and et cetera, et cetera. And, and, and, you know, wanting to, you know, placing value in rejecting those systems. And also there's still being a huge barrier to overcome to access self care, to access self nourishment, to care for ourselves and, and sort of, I don't know, I'm just imagining this kind of liminal space, this no man's land that you were talking about, and I find that a lot of us probably feel stuck in that place quite often.Katie: Yeah, because there's a real resistance, like I'm, I'm resistant to regressing into this, this space that I, you know, I've had like lots of us have, or on the, on the road to having, I hope, this sort of glass shattering moment where you are like, Oh, I can live in my body, in my case, in my fat queer body and be happy. Those things can coexist. I do not have to change the other thing in order to be happy. And I mean, happy in the fullest of sense. I mean, successful in whatever successful looks like, loved, cared for, fed, cherished, admired, like whatever that looks like. And, and that can change. And for the first sort of two decades of my life, I did not realise that I could be fat and any of those things.Laura: Yeah.Katie: I'd have glimmers of it and then be like, but it was so hard to hold onto, and I thought the only way that I could hold onto them more was, was to not be fat anymore.Laura: Yeah.Katie: And so I just, I utterly refute. I completely resist, going back to thinking like that. And so I would much rather sit in this no man's land space. But that being said, it's really difficult and it's meant that I have felt increasingly disconnected to my body in a way because I am reframing it as something that like, doesn't define my existence, or doesn't define my ability to achieve happiness or success or love or any of those things. The multitude of those. But I can't always work out how to achieve them. And so it's really challenging. And so it's felt like it's easier to sort of build some space between me and my body, rather than live that under fear of going back to a place that I don't wanna.Laura: Yeah. So many little, little threads that I want to tug on there. I suppose what I'm thinking about is just this, like the energy required to subvert the system and just say, No, I'm out When still existing and living within those structures, within the, those confines and, and all of the, you know, I suppose what we're talking to is this idea that yes, we can cognitively understand anti-fat bias or racism or capitalism or whatever structure that we're, we're naming, which they're all the same thing really. Let, let's face it, um, that, that, that is the issue, but still not, you know, we still need resources to be able to survive in those systems. And, you know, if we, you know, the less access we have to those resources, the harder our lives are. And so, you know, we can yeah, label something as anti-fat bias, but it still doesn't stop the system from, you know, perpetrating anti-fat bias whenever we need to go to the doctor or buy clothes or fly in an airplane or just, you know, walk down the street.Katie: And I think, you know, there is also a huge privilege in being able to decide when or when I do or don't want to engage with my body. And obviously sometimes I don't have a choice, um, often when then someone else enters my space and, um, Kind of those micro-aggressions or macro-aggressions, either from other people or structure, whether that's like societal structure or like the physical parameters of my space i.e. When I can't help but feel an arm of the chair digging into my side. Like, there are sometimes where I can't help but be faced with that. But I think, you know, it is a privilege to be able in my day to day life, to the moments when I can, to be able to choose whether or not I want to engage with my, with those things each, each day.And I, and I don't take that for granted. I don't necessarily find it easy, but I, I don't, I don't take those for granted. And that was because I am white and, middle class and, not disabled, and, and multitude of other things. But, um, it's really difficult and I guess when I'm making work about my body, I'm opting in to engage with it. And think that's probably why making work about my body is so important to me because I think it's a way for me to opt in and to also in like, to a great extent. I mean, it could definitely be better, but like I've also been paid to do it um, you know, I'm being paid for the labor of, of opting in to engage with those things, as I say, not a lot. And certainly I'm not being paid for every moment that I'm like going through that. But that's why I think it's really important when I'm making work about my body that, that I do make work about my body because otherwise, I, I wonder how much of my life I would just not, not feel embodied.Laura: But it, it's, it's so interesting, like I, I was just thinking as you were talking here about this idea of, you know, no man's land, being in this liminal space with your body and, like it sounds as though for you disconnection, disembodiment is, is a choice almost. And, or maybe that's not quite the right way of, of framing it, cuz I think that's maybe too simplistic a way to describe it. But really what I'm trying to get at is that oftentimes disembodiment and, uh, disconnection, dissociation are, are labeled or framed as this really negative really, you know, maladaptive is the, the word that we would use like in in the body image lingo, right? Like from an academic perspective, Right. But what I'm hearing from you is that it's a survival mechanism. It's a coping mechanism.Katie: Yeah, a hundred percent. And, I think about choice is really interesting. Cause like I definitely don't think it's active choice. I don't get off each day and go, or each week and go like, I'm choosing toLaura: Disembody. Yeah. Yeah.Katie: Um, there's clearly something is, like something within me is making that choice or something that's happening to me.But yeah, it's a hundred percent a survival technique but it's not necessarily one I'm ashamed of. I think I'm, most days I am proud of my fat body and I'm proud that I'm surviving in it. I am proud that I am still fat in spite of it all, that I'm honouring what my body needs and how it wants to exist in this moment. And I will like, whatever it is that I have to do in order to maintain that in a way that like, makes it make sense for me is something that, I'm not going lean away from. And I, and I think I begin to touch on this a bit in, in the show that I'm in the process of making at the moment, Blubber, which is like, I think towards the end of the process of making my last show Fatty, Fat, Fat, I was saying the same thing, you know, as is the nature of things when you perform something a lot or you talk about something a lot or, repeat yourself a lot. I was taking up the same space over and over again, or having the same conversations with journalists or audiences. But I was saying all the right things, but I wasn't, I wasn't connecting to them in the same way. And that's what this show, what Blubber's kind of came rooted in, is finding a way to try and feel more embodied, um, trying to feel more connected to a body that I've, that I'm proud to exist in, I think. And I'm proud to, to nourish and I'm proud to take care of, and I'm proud that still exists. And so it feels, I really want to feel connected to it. In a tangible way. Laura: I just wanna take a step back for a second for people who maybe aren't familiar with your previous show, Fatty, Fat, Fat, could you maybe just like give a just a very quick synopsis and then just so we can contextualise this conversation versus what you were talking about in that show.Katie: Totally. So, Fatty Fat Fat was my first solo autobiographical show. I started making it in 2018 after I just graduated from drama school. Kind of came out of, uh, frustration that lots of people in big bodies who work in the kind of entertainment, theatre, performing arts industry come against, which is like, I wasn't fat enough in inverted commas to be the fat girl in inverted commas um, or thin enough to be the normal girl in inverted commas. And so sort of, there was no castings, there was no jobs, there was, I was the fat, funny friend, etc, etc. And so it came out of, of a want to make work, but not seeing myself or stories or people like me really, um, reflected or, or being cast for. So Fatty Fat Fat was a show based on a series of anecdotes from my life where my relationship with my body changed because of other people's interactions with it.So they span from the age of 5 to 22. And they were micro-aggressions, um, generally either from family, friends or strangers that kind of, yeah, informed my relationship with my body and those were intersected with more kind of poetic movement moments that were rooted in where I was at in that process, present day. And also some kind of interactive moments that were talking about the wider fat liberation and fat acceptance movement. It was my coming out as being fat, I'd never called myself fat before I made that show. It was very much fat activism 1 0 1, and it's, you know, doesn't take away from my pride in that show. But it was time to leave it behind and, and Blubber really picks up from there.Laura: And I wanted to, so I, yeah, I just thought it would be helpful to give that kind of background what that show was versus this, this new show where it, it feels like a, Yeah, like you said before, trying to feel more connected to your body whilst, as we described before, living in systems that want that, you know, benefit from you being disconnected and disembodied. So I'm curious to know and I, I wonder if this kind of connects into this question of, of nourishment that we were talking about at the beginning and, and finding ways to nourish yourself, and that even in and of itself, being subversive as a fat person. What does embodiment mean to you? What does it look like? What does it feel like? You know, like, like we said before, sometimes it's held up as being this, this gold standard way of being in your body. Right? But I don't know that that's necessarily always true, and, and so I'm, I'm curious to hear from you. Yeah. Just tell me all your thoughts on embodiment.Katie: On embodiment. I think the short answer is I don't know what embodiment looks like to me. I think what I'm trying to work out, um, is the shortest and simplest answer. I think that embodiment can look like lots of things. So there is a version of embodiment for me that is being on stage right, I am acutely aware of everything that me and my body are doing that, especially as a solo performer that it is, I'm responsible for everything that's happening in this space. I'm like, whatever I do or say is queuing the next light or sound. I'm having a relationship to the audience. Yeah, they might be looking around the room, but like they've paid money to be there, to be there and watch me, or listen, and so like those moments, I am aware of everything. Like you learn, and like actors training about like this duality, you have to have a sort of outward eye but also an inward eye. So like which is where like, you know, practices like method acting and stuff like that become where you are like fully character all the time become a little dangerous.Um, and so yeah, my training is very much thinking about like, and what I kind of continue to pass on when I'm working with other artists is like working both ways. So, Yes, I'm saying the lines and I'm in my character, but also I'm inside, I'm thinking, Oh, am I connecting to my diaphragm? Can someone hear me? Someone's just dropped a prop over there and I need to make sure I move that out of the way before the big dance number, or whatever it is. You've got to have this duality. And so there's something about embodiment in that moment where you're like, I need to be aware not only of everything that's happening to me, around me, but also what's happening inside of me. And, and I'm really responsible for, for that. And obviously I have team that I definitely couldn't do without the team that work alongside me. But in those moments, you know, you couldn't, can't help but feel embodied. And so for me, that's why live performance is so important rather than working in film or TV or recorded media is, is because that aliveness makes me feel alive in a way that I don't necessarily know how to replicate in other, in other spaces, which comes with other things because it also is terrifying, incredibly anxiety inducing and complicated. And so it's not just as easy as standing up and being like, Here we go. But there are moments of that where you kind, when you're able to move through the fear, and you're not doing the show for the first time or something. You're like, I'm here, I'm feeling this, I'm doing this, and we're doing it together And that feels exciting.Laura: There's something, I mean, I've, I've seen both shows and there is something very like visceral and immersive about your performances. Like you're in this relationship with the audience, you're having this dialogue, this conversation with them, and I think, yeah, the word that you used, was it like, did you say vital? Vitality?Katie: Yeah.Laura: Yeah. You can perceive that from sitting in the audience. So yeah, I can, I can see how that, that that is a moment of, of connection and that's something that I took from Blubber. We were kind of talking about this off mic before that, and, and I don't know that this is necessarily how you were framing things, but, but it's certainly how I interpreted the show was that there is not this big like crescendo moment where you like, make peace with your body and then it's just like, you know, happily ever after, from, from there on out, that there was this real sense of, of moments of joy and comfort and connection in our bodies. And I'm gonna ask you about one of them in just a second. But, um, yeah, like that they were just kind of like peppered all over the place. Almost if we, we go back to that analogy that you used before, where you moved from that no man's land, where your body just kind of almost doesn't exist in a, in a way to being fully immersed and in your body and connected to it in this really positive and vital way.Katie: Yeah, I think that's such a lovely way of putting it. And, and the show doesn't crescendo in the same way. We, we spent a long time thinking about that in development we were like, Oh, where does the crescendo happen? Cause when I initially wrote it, it had about four ones rather than big one. And I think, um, It's a separate conversation to be had about like Western storytelling and what we, what that's, where that's rooted in and, and, and why we feel we need that and blah, blah, blah. That is for a separate, a separate conversation. But I really hear you. And the show has those kind of pockets of, of joy and reflection in amongst stuff that's really knotty and difficult. I think there's something for me in, Fatty Fat Fat ends with the line, I want my body back. Right? And so I sort of imagine that Blubber picks up going, Okay, here you go, imagining someone is going, All right, well there you are, here's the keys, what are you gonna do about it? Like, what happens now? And, and I think that's why this conversation about knowing's life is really pertinent to me because it's like, cool, if someone puts me in the driver's seat of my own body, do I even know where the pedals are anymore? I really know what all the buttons do? Do I know what feels good or what doesn't? Like okay, so yeah, I've got the keys, but how do I take control? How do I drive on the open road with all, Like, how do I make it feel like convertible, uh, with my, you know, the sea air in my hair? Singing to a song. Like driving isn't like that. You might get pockets of that, but other times you're stuck in a traffic jam or you can't start, or you need maintenance, or it's just like you're using it from, gets from A to B. Laura: Yeah,Katie: And I, and I think Blubber is a little bit about reflecting on my body as a vehicle and the times where it works and it feels like it's mine and it feels like I'm in it and I'm, I'm driving it. And other times where it feels like I'm, I'm still learning what it can do and, and what feels safe and, and all of those things sit within the structure of whether or not they're possible or impossible, or I'm allowed in inverted commas or not allowed or, you know, all of those things then have a context that sits around them.Laura: I think it's so important to speak to the messiness, the stickiness, how complicated it is to have a body, because I feel otherwise we, we fall into the trap of presenting binaries around our bodies, like either love your body and always be completely grateful. You know, I've spoken a lot on this series in particular around having a baby and how we're presented with these that very either or options of like, well be grateful cuz your body did this miraculous thing. Right? Or, change your body and get it, you know, get your pre-baby body back or, you know, so these really, like, I want more options than that to, to feel about my body. And I want to have those moments of joy and connection and comfort in my body. And I also want to scream when I'm having those really difficult days in my body and feeling the, the clout of all of those systems that, that really crush us in a metaphorical sense.Katie: Yeah, totally. And I, and I think, I thought for a long time, particularly with Fatty Fat Fat and maybe less so with Blubber, but I think it's, if anything, it's just got deeper, is that like I thought I couldn't make a show about fatness until I was, until I loved my body, until I'd reached that absolute nirvana, um, and I was completely at peace and could run around naked and do a back flip and everyone see all my, you know warts and all and I'd be like, Oh, I don't care. And I thought I couldn't make a show about fatness until I'd felt like that, because I thought it was either where I was currently at or that space and there was nowhere in between.And it was when I kind of realised that there could be some spectrum of that that, that I realised that kind of allowed me to get myself permission to make, to make the work. And, and if anything, Blubber has just got deeper and messier in the complexities of that. And it's really difficult.And I remember we had a time in, uh, the development of the show earlier in the year, in January. We were doing some movement work and I felt really challenged by something and got quite emotional after we'd just done an exercise in the room and we were reflecting on it. And, and I remember sort of sharing with the team that like, I just felt really ugly, I felt like my body didn't look nice and I was having, you know, I'm making something, you know, It was an exercise. It was, it was nothing, like, we were just trying something out and, and I, and I suddenly became really aware of like, why did that find so difficult? Because I, I was like, Oh, Cause I'm, I'm emphasising things that I, that I don't want to, or I'm, I'm feeling, I'm feeling the, the ugliness of, of my body, not because it's fat, just because I'm putting myself in weird positions.I'm screwing myself up. I'm, I'm folding all my chins in, all in on themselves. And like, and like some, some days that stuff doesn't bother you. But like in that moment I was just like, it's all very well, like sharing a lot of yourself with an audience, but then sharing something with a room full of strangers that like is not a version of yourself that you would show it, you would want to show anyone. How, how do we hold those things? How do we hold that messiness and ugliness that we all hold, but in my body it means something so different. And me sharing that and giving that to you means something really different. And that was a really useful learning for me and just being like, Oh, that is a limit. I mean, we've always thought about that whenever we've been making work, but like there is a limit of things that, that I'm comfortable doing without putting myself in danger.Laura: Mm-hmm. Wow. Yeah. There's so much to think about there. And I suppose as, as you were talking about all of those parts of yourself that we're taught to conceal and hide and push down, and as, all I was thinking about is just this idea that those are all things that we've been taught to feel shame about.Shame, shame, shame, shame, shame. If your body looks, you know, if you have double chins or triple chins or you know, if, if, if you don't, you know, if you turn side on and you have a belly or all of these things, we only ever see these like flat one dimensional representations of bodies that have been, you know, through layers and layers and layers of modification that it's so shocking, it's so shocking to see a real body. In all three dimensions to taking up space. And that shouldn't be shocking, but what I'm hearing you say is that there's something really, really unsafe about, you know, putting your body in those positions.Katie: Because I think there's still stuff that I'm unlearning about, like palatable fatness and being, you know, there's so many people that have said it, you know, say it far more articulately than I will or can about like the, you know, good fatties and bad fatties and how we can navigate the cultures that exist and the, and the barriers in society by demonstrating that we can be feminine or beautiful or graceful or healthy or educated or whatever it is in order to kind of overcompensate, for this like big glaringly obvious thing, which is my fat body and or, or fat bodies generally. And I think there was something that I learned in that moment about like how, how deeply that goes still. And, you know, I don't mind making a fool of myself. I don't mind showing bits of myself in a way that maybe you know, 2, 3, 4, 5 years ago, I might have had more of a challenge with. I don't mind exposing myself. There's some video content in the show, which is like really zoomed in, uh, bits of my body where you see like my bitten fingernails or my, I've got lovely skin, I'm very lucky, but I always get a series of spots underneath one, my right. You know, it's just like, and those things are blown up really big for an audience to make it, you know, because my whole, to show my whole body can be a universe, right? And I don't think a version of me before that, before would've been able to cope with that.And there are things that I'm, that I'm willing to find the imperfections now. I'm willing to share those with the audience. But I'm, I think there is something about like, you know, that initially Blubber came from this idea of wanting to feel beautiful. I don't think I've ever felt beautiful. I still don't.And I think I wanted to make a beautiful show so that some people would watch it and be like, Wow, you are beautiful because you made beautiful work. I've, I've been lots of other things. I am lots of other things, but that's just not something I don't that word specifically I don't think I've ever felt that sensation.And so there was something in that moment of being like, I can be, I can not be that. I can be somewhere in the middle. I can go below the middle two. But I, like, I don't want to show all my deepest insecurities, difficulties, no matter how much I'm learning or challenging or understanding why I feel that way about myself.But like no wants to share the worst stuff with an audience. And I don't think it's fair to an audience either.Laura: I'm, I'm feeling quite emotional listening to you talk particularly about that, that sort of sequence that was projected up onto kind of this like really ethereal netty curtainy sort of situation because like I sitting in the audience found that completely breathtaking. That and the part where there's a lot of kind of like red light projected on you and it felt sort of like you were being held in this like womb. I don't know if that was the vibe you were going for.Katie: Yeah, definitely womb like, because it's, that's sort of inside the body of a whale, so um, womb, internal, all of that sort of stuff. Definitely.Laura: Yeah. Both of those things. Just, um, I don't know. There was something about that. Both of them felt very, very vulnerable, but there was something, so, I don't know that beautiful is the right word, because that feels kind of like that trivialises what it was.Katie: And I think that's why the show is less about beauty now because, I think as we went on it, like actually what it was, was about feeling. And I think as someone that's been socialised as a woman, I've been taught that beauty is the ultimate goal. And or the antidote to my fatness. And like, like so many, people who live in fat bodies, I was, you know, told a lot growing up, you would be so beautiful if you weren't fat. And like, I, again, we don't, there's a not unique experiences and, and there's so many conversations that are, have been had and are being had about like, you know, beautiful being be able to coexist with fatness. And I, and I look at, I, I feel so lucky and grateful that I look at fat bodies, other people's fat bodies now, and I, and I think they are beautiful. But I never felt that in myself and, and really and in reflection, I think it's because I want to feel sensation. And I think it goes back to our previous conversation about embodiment and disembodiment, is I felt like I just wasn't feeling anything either in or around my body or within my body because I was like, feeling was such a big part of who I was. Feeling huge emotions is such a big part of me, particularly being an artist. And I think I was just like making so much space between me and my body that I wasn't feeling any of those things. And so it wasn't really about beauty, it was about feeling held or feeling something monumental or extraordinary or new or astonishing or even awful or trying or terrifying. But like between the onslaught of news, a pandemic, government crisis, a you know, everything else on top of experiencing the world in a, in a marginalised body that intersects different marginalisations, but obviously not all of them. You just, at some point there becomes a disconnect. And so, yeah, I really hear what you're saying about those things and I, and I see and agree with you. And so I think that's why the show wasn't about beauty anymore. It was about sensation, like just being able to feel and connect with something on my body.Laura: Yeah. And, and, and I suppose what you're naming there is also dissociation disconnection. That can be really powerful, really useful. I mean, life saving survivals tools. And they have a cost. They come with this, this huge price, which is, you know, not being able to sense or feel or emote these, you know, these things that you know, to, to bring it back again to embodiment are really vital to you, you know, to feeling that aliveness, that connectedness, that humanness.Katie: Totally. And also to go back to your kind of your first question, nourishment, because it also meant that I wasn't nourishing my body, um, because I was so disconnected from it or disembodied that I wasn't feeding it properly, I wasn't nourishing it in the things it consumed in the media, wasn't nourishing it in, in loads of different ways because, because I wasn't connected enough with it to be able to empathise or to be able to understand what, what it needed. And so I think these things are all, all so connected. Because without that, without that embodiment, it's really hard to make offers of meaningful nourishment. I can kind of know to go to bed or know to eat some toast, but like, or know not to spend 10 hours on TikTok. sometimes, I mean all of those things also their placeLaura: But, But yeah, all of those things can like spending 10 hours on TikTok can be nourishing sometimes when you need But I think what you're speaking to is like the fine tuning of that. And knowing when, Yeah, it's 10 hours in TikTok versus, No, actually I need to like get outside or talk to a, another humanKatie: Or go to sleep. Do you know what I mean? Like, know when to say no. Know what my boundaries are. I've been really thinking about something that, Candice Brathwaite said online, in some point in the last few months about like, laziness and idleness and I think as a fat person you are told you are lazy and I've been called lazy as long as I can remember. And so I'm doing a lot of work at the moment with myself about what are things that I truly believe and what are things that I am thinking, what are things truly exist and what things have I been told? And cuz sometimes they are the, like, those things kind can coexist.And so there's the thing about laziness, I'm thinking at the moment. Cause I do think I'm naturally quite a lazy person. Like I could, I could easily sit on a sofa and, and not move for, for days. I, that's fine. Like I'm, I'm into it. I'm not, I'm not mad at, But part of me's like, is that true or is that just because I've been told that that's true.And I, and I'm something that Candice has said recently online was like about how, um, sometimes the best way to take care of yourself is, is to challenge those instincts.Laura: Mm.Katie: Actually for me, some of the best ways I used to take care of myself, and I'm still trying to work out what that looks like in present day, was kind of before pandemic, um, before 2020, cause the pandemic's still happening. But, um, before 2020 anyway of like, some of the best ways I used to take care of myself was actually saying yes and going out and doing things rather than saying no and staying in.Laura: Mm-hmm.Katie: Because I have chronic FOMO and I love being busy, I love getting my en you know, I get my energy from other people.I love living my life like that. And so there's a version of me now that's like, oh, is that still true? Or do I need to actually stay home and take care of myself or eat, not, you know, go to bed early or whatever, Or am I being lazy? And I, I, I'm really trying to connect with what is true about me. Um, and that's something I'm finding really difficult at the moment, but, I'm really trying to engage with, and I think, again, links to lots of things we've been talking about.Laura: Yeah. Absolutely. And I love, I love that kind of distinction that you made. Like is this something, what, Tell me again what it was. Is this something I'm thinking?Katie: Is this something I'm thinking I've been told or is true?Laura: Yes. Okay. Yeah, and I think that that's such a, a helpful way of, of reframing some of those, those thoughts and beliefs that come to our mind. And I have, I have such a visceral reaction to the word lazy because I like firmly believe that that is just a social construct designed to make us feel bad about rest.Well, on that note, the last question that I had for you, and, you know, given all of the complexities, um, you know, and the, the stuff that you're kind of really in process of, of figuring out at the moment, I would love to know who or what is nourishing you right now?Katie: First of all, my housemate has bought me a really delicious pan aux raisin from the coffee shop up the road, and it is sitting in a paper bag behind the door.Laura: It's waiting for you,Katie: behind meLaura: Your stomach, grumbling stomach knows it's there, it's ready.Katie: That is the thing that is about to nourish me and, um, and she is just, um, being proud of that. I think, the things are nourishing me is routine, trying to find structure and routine in my life.That's something that's really nourishing me at the moment. Something that is also nourishing me is really leaning into my deep love and interest in the Real Housewives, um, That is something that's deeply nourishing me at the moment. And being able to talk in depth with friends about that is really nourishing parts of me that I didn't know I needed.Laura: Okay. And you will not be surprised to learn that this is not the first time that this, that this has come up podcast this season.Katie: Wow.Laura: So I talked to Clara Nosek, aka Your Dietician BFF. Had a great conversation. Highly recommend go back and listening to that. And her, the thing that's nourishing her right now is reality tv, but very specifically Housewives,Katie: Great. So I'm a big reality fan, reality TV fan, but particularly Housewives. So, I could, like, even now, just the thought of being able about it, especially in a public forum is like really make me froth at the mouth. Um, some young people I work with, was working with, uh, like as the sort of present for the end of the project, they very sweetly got me a seal cuddly toy with some like gold hoop earrings and they um, called it the Real Housewife of Shepherd's Bush, which is where we were working together. So, yeah, that's something that's really nourishing me right now. Finding these pockets of sunlight. Um, hopefully if you are, if and when you're listening to this, you might be able to find one of those too, but I dunno, it seems like from behind you, you've got a lovely bit of sunshine, your side.But yeah, there's some beautiful kind of sunlight pouring into my windows and I've got this sort of glitter ball Laura: Is that what it is?Katie: globe.Laura: Oh, okay. I've seen these little like,Katie: Pockets, Yeah. There's, so every now and then my living room, um, if the light is at the right angle, makes these sort of spots of light appear. And so all of those things feel really nourishing, I think for one of the first times in my recent life, like my work isn't nourishing me, uh, at the moment and like I'm looking to other things to hold that with me, and I think that's really exciting.That doesn't mean. It's not satisfying or it's not, not doing what it needs to do or like, it just means it's not the sole focus of that, where that nourishment is coming from. And I feel really excited by the prospect of that and that feels quite new. And finally, I've got a, I'm going to see all being well, I'm going to see, um, Adele in Las Vegas next March. AndLaura: There was like a wry smile, and I was like, I'm desperate to know what it is.Katie: So currently all roads lead to Vegas and that is deeply nourishing me, cuz it's like the end of the winter. It just feels, it's not so far away that it feels impossible, but it feels tangible, but enough time to get excited. So like that is also something me. So like,Laura: focused, you're focused on getting there.Katie: so there's, there's a real mix and I think variety is a spice of life. You know, I'm a freelancer. I'm, although I've just said all that stuff about routine and structure, like, I feel excited when I'm bouncing around and doing multiple different things. And so, trying to find that balance, um, feels exciting and, hopefully nourishing as well.Laura: It's that, I don't know if this like speaks to your experience, but like I've seen a lot of people online and it like resonates with me as well. Like talk about that neurodivergent urge towards chaos, but needing routine and structure like the routine and structure being really helpful and useful, but being the exact opposite thing, like also feeling like suffocating at the same time.Katie: Absolutely.Laura: All right. Before we finish up this episode, I would love to know what you're snacking on. So it can be a literal snack if you want, although we've covered off the pan raises end, so check that box. But it can be a book, a podcast, a movie, a person, anything. So can you share what you're snacking on right now?Katie: I am snacking on, Oh, there's so many things I could say. I had something in mind but I'm changing my mind. I am snacking on, I'm really trying to, I'm gonna go for like a literal thing I'm snacking on.Laura: Go on.Katie: And I'm really reaching back into, um, like childhood foods, the foods that maybe I didn't have growing up or, thought I couldn't. And, and so I'm really leaning into like the cheese string, the fruit winder, the penguin, the Frosty cereal bar. Those are my, like ones of choice, but also, Primula, the cheeseLaura: My God. Yeah. Yeah.Katie: on Ritz crackers.Laura: my God. Love RitzKatie: That is, that is like a real peak school time snack that we used to have at, like, at the end of term.And so, yeah, it's, those are the things I'm stacking on at the moment, just like really trying to find that joy in those little snacks again. Those are the things that I'm loving.Laura: so funny you say that cause I was just in Scotland last week and my friend and I bought a pick and mix and I do not remember the last time I bought a pick and mix and I was just like, chomping on these cola bottles, like the sour sweets. It was amazing. So yeah, I'm right there with you with the like, nostalgic, nostalgic foods.Okay, so my thing is a book, I'm like halfway through reading it, which I'm always a bit like, can I really recommend a book when I'm not completely finished it? But like, I think I know enough to know that it's worth reading. And this is someone that I'm really hoping will come on the podcast next season, but, so the book is called Small Fires. And it's by Rebecca May Johnson. And she is the co-editor of Vittles, which is a great Substack. I really struggle to describe what it's about because basically throughout the course of the book, she cooks the same recipe over a thousand times. And she talks about, she talks about cooking and food through this, like political lens is kind of the only way that I can think, or like I can describe it. But she's talking about appetite and she's talking about how kind of, in the same way that you were talking about that, like duality between the artist and the audience.She's talking about like this sort of reciprocal relationship between a recipe and the person that's cooking it and the food, and it's just such a, like, mind blowing way to think about food and cooking and it's just really cool. I, you just need to read it. Maybe I'll link to like, about review in the show notes, but Yeah, so it's called Small Fires by Rebecca May Johnson and it's just like, it would make a great Christmas present for someone.So yeah, that's my snack. All right, Katie, tell us, tell the audience where they can find out more about you and your work.Katie: so you can find out more about me and my work on, um, my Instagram or Twitter, which is @katie_greenall on both, um, or my website, which is www.katiegreenall.com. Those are the best ways to find me.Laura: Perfect. And I will obviously link to all of that in the show notes. And yeah, I have really, really enjoyed this conversation. It's felt really nourishing. And I'm really looking forward to seeing how Blubber sort of evolves in the direction that you take it in. And as soon as you know when and where that's gonna be, I will be sharing about it and let the audience know where they can come and see that show.So, thank you so much for being here and being so candid and honest about your relationship with your body, your relationship with food, and yeah, just all the things that you've been thinking about. It's been really a great conversation. So thank you.Katie: It's been a joy. Thank you so much for having me.OUTRO:Laura Thomas: Thank you for listening to Season 1 of Can I Have Another Snack? If you've enjoyed these conversations, then please rate and review in iTunes and share these episodes with your friends. Can I Have Another Snack? is hosted by me, Laura Thomas, edited by Joeli Kelly, our funky artwork is by Caitlin Preyser. And the music is by Jason Barkhouse. Fiona Bray keeps me on track and makes sure this episode gets out every week. This season wouldn't be possible without your support so thank you for being here and valuing my work and I will catch you in January, when we'll be back with a whole host of really cool guests exploring appetites, bodies, and identity. Talk to you then. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit laurathomas.substack.com/subscribe
In this episode, we chat to author and essayist Rebecca May Johnson about what it means to bring critical ideas into the everyday. We discuss the radical potential of the recipe as a tool for performance and intergenerational exchange. We speak about the abjection of bodies by capitalist society and reclaiming pleasure as a means of feminist praxis. We discuss the isolation rendered by the privatisation of public spaces and the necessity for communal ways to gather and eat together. We chat about the ways in which theory can neglect visceral experience and the recipe as a living text which anchors us to our bodies and the world. Rebecca May Johnson has published essays, reviews and nonfiction with Granta, Times Literary Supplement, Daunt Books Publishing and Vittles, among others. She was a creative writing fellow at the British School at Rome in 2021. She earned a PhD in Contemporary German Literature from UCL in 2016.She also uses online publishing to conduct stylistic experiments: her essay ‘I Dream of Canteens' was published via TinyLetter and gained widespread acclaim, winning ‘The Browser' prize for the best piece on the internet in April 2019. Her anonymous waitressing series was voted in the Observer Food Monthly ‘Top 50' of 2018. She was finalist in the ‘Young British Foodies' writing prize judged by Marina O'Loughlin and Yotam Ottolenghi. She publishes a newsletter called dinner document where she shares recipes and thoughts about food every week. Small Fires is her first book. References Small Fires by Rebecca May Johnson I dream of Canteens by Rebecca May Johnson Dinner Document by Rebecca May Johnson Vittles newsletter Abolish the Family by Sophie Lewis Zami: A New Spelling of my Name by Audre Lorde The Odyssey translated by Emily Wilson
Cooking, we are told, has nothing to do with serious thought; the path to intellectual fulfilment leads directly out of the kitchen. In Small Fires (Pushkin), essayist and food writer Rebecca May Johnson takes a different path, rewriting the kitchen as a vital source of knowledge, revelation and radical thought.Johnson, author of the popular Substack ‘Dinner Document‘, was in conversation with Jonathan Nunn, who writes about the London food scene for eater.co.uk and edits the ‘Vittles' newsletter.Find more upcoming LRB Bookshop events via the website: https://lrb.me/eventspod Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Today I'm talking to Rachel Millner - a psychologist, Certified Eating Disorder Specialist and Supervisor, and a Certified Body Trust® provider. Rachel works with people struggling with all forms of eating disorders and disordered eating and those wanting to break free from diet culture. This episode dives into the stickier, messier parts of anti-diet parenting (which I think we can all relate to!) and Rachel tells us how she is creating a shame and judgment free environment when it comes to food and bodies. She shares some of the places that she sees parents struggle when it comes to supporting their kids' relationship to food: misguided restrictions that can backfire, and parents trying to control kid's weight so as to protect them from shame (and all the complexity of that). This is such an open and honest conversation where Rachel names all of the complexity and messiness of a lot of these issues and how she owns up to fucking things up and how she repairs when she does, which I really appreciated.Can I Have Another Snack? is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.Find out more about Rachel here.Follow her work on Instagram here.Follow Laura on Instagram here.Here's the transcript in full.Rachel MillnerI always want to ask the question of people of, if you weren't worried about fatness, would you be doing this? Like, if you weren't worried that your kids were gonna be fat, would you actually be focused on kale? Would you actually be trying to avoid feeding them certain foods? And usually the answer is no.Laura ThomasHey, welcome to the Can I Have Another Snack podcast where I'm asking my guests who or what they're nourishing right now, and who or what is nourishing them. I'm Laura Thomas, an anti-diet registered nutritionist, and author of the Can I Have Another Snack newsletter. Today I'm talking to Rachel Millner.Rachel is a psychologist, certified eating disorder specialist and supervisor, and a certified body trust provider. Rachel works with people struggling with all forms of eating disorders and disordered eating, and those who want to break free from diet culture.In this episode, we talk all about the stickier, messier parts of anti diet parenting. We talk about how Rachel's twins have really different needs when it comes to food. And how she's creating a shame and judgment free environment when it comes to food and bodies. She shares some of the places that she sees parents struggle when it comes to supporting their kids' relationship to food, misguided restrictions that can backfire, and parents trying to control kids' weights so as to protect them from shame and the complexity of that whole conversation. She also shares her experiences as a fat parent and how she sits with the discomfort of feeling judged by other parents. I really appreciated how Rachel names the complexity and messiness of a lot of these issues and how she owns up to fucking things up and how she repairs when she does.Before we get to Rachel's episode, just a reminder that we're now in October, which means that if you haven't already switched to a paid membership of Can I Have Another Snack then you are missing out on the cool community only features like our weekly discussion threads, snacky bits, and our monthly Dear Laura Column, plus, this month you'll get my Raising Embodied Eaters download. And if you're listening to this on the Friday that it goes out, so that's the 7th of October, there will be a super juicy and personal piece that I have written going out to subscribers only this weekend. So if you've been thinking about becoming a paid subscriber, then now is the time. It's five pounds per month or 50 pounds for the year. And if you can't afford that right now, but you really feel like you'd benefit from this content, then just email hello@laurathomahsphd.co.uk and put snacks in the subject line. No explanation necessary.Just a quick thank you to those of you who have already subscribed. It really means a lot, and I appreciate you putting your belief in this work and helping me make this writing project sustainable.All right, gang, here's Rachel.Laura ThomasAll right, Rachel I would love it if you could share with us who or what are you nourishing right now? Rachel MillnerYeah. My kids, myself, our two dogs, friends, family. It feels like this time of year especially, there's lots around me that need nourishing, which means I also need nourishing. Laura ThomasYeah. It sounds like you've got a full plate of people and animals that, that kind of need attending to, and I'm, I'm curious to hear how you make space for yourself in amongst all of that.Rachel MillnerYeah. It's interesting when you just said that, it made me think also about, between my kids and my animals, how different their needs are. Like I have two kids, two animals, and their needs are wildly different. And how my needs also change from day to day and week to week. And that there are definitely days and weeks that I get lost in the shuffle.You know, I think being socialized female, I'm a single mom by choice. And so, you know, I think that sometimes it's hard to remember that, I need to make sure I'm nourishing myself. And not just with food, but in general, like with connection and with time to zone out and relax and not be having to take care of somebody else.Laura ThomasI hadn't realized that you were a solo parent and that, I mean, just sending you loads of compassion because I find parenting one child with a partner to be a lot. So how old are your kids?Rachel MillnerI have twins and they're 10. Laura ThomasOh twins. I didn't realize that they were twins. Okay. That sounds awesome And terrifying in equal measure.Rachel MillnerThat's a good way to describe it. Laura ThomasAnd I'm so curious. This idea, like what you were saying about the kids and the animals, and sorry if it's really weird to compare your kids with your pets, but I feel like you did say it first, it's fair game. But like what were you thinking of there when you said that their needs were like, wildly different?Rachel MillnerMy kids, even though they're twins could not be more opposite and we, my kids also laugh at how our two dogs sort of mirror and parallel them in personality.And so they're, they need different kinds. I mean, for my kids they need different kinds of parenting. They need different types of food. They need different kinds of boundaries. They need different types of support in school. And. You know, obviously the pets are not in school and that kind of thing, but same, they need different boundaries, they need different ways to like have support in making sure that they are not doing things they're not supposed to do in the house. And yeah. So I think attunement is probably the word that comes to mind when I think about all of their needs and trying to be attuned to, you know, what my kids are needing in any given moment.And also trying to explain to my kids why I may respond to one of them differently than the other. And helping them understand the ways that they're unique and that their needs are different.Laura ThomasHmm. I'm really curious just because this is where my brain defaults to, but when you're talking about they have different needs around food, you're talking about each of the twins, right?Rachel MillnerYes. Laura ThomasRather than the twins vs the dogs right? Rachel MillnerYeah, yeah, the dogs eat the same food. Laura ThomasAnd, and yeah. I'm, I'm just interested to dig into that a little bit more and hear your approach to that Rachel MillnerI have one kid who's a really adventurous eater. He is a kid who will try pretty much anything.It doesn't mean he is gonna like it, but he's usually up for tasting something. And I have another kid who would rather stick with the foods that he knows he likes. He tends to be more like brand specific. So like, he likes pizza, but he likes certain pizzas or, you know, So I think I shared this on social media at one point, but an example of how tuned in he is to what he likes and doesn't like is There's a particular kind of potato chip that he likes and they come in big bags and then they come in like the little snack size bags.Laura ThomasSure. Rachel MillnerAnd so for school, I'm like, Okay, let's, we can get the snack size bags cuz they fit in your lunch box. It's a lot easier. And he's like, No, they taste different. And I'm like, it's literally like the same chip, same brand, same flavor, just one's in a big bag and one's in a smaller bag. And he's like, No, they taste different.So we did a taste test and I put them in like baggies and I didn't label them for him. I put like whole chips in and I knew which was in which baggy, and I did like two bags of each so that he couldn't just get lucky with a guess. Laura ThomasYeah, yeah, yeah. Rachel MillnerAnd sure enough, he got it exactly right. He was like, These are from the big bag and these are from the small bag.I can't tell a difference. I taste these chips. They taste exactly the same to me. But to him, that's how discerning he is with taste and flavor. And so it was really helpful for me to realize that when he says something doesn't taste good to him or that he can tell a difference that he really can tell a difference.And, so it was just a real eye opening experience to see how he could tell the difference between something that like, I think for the vast majority of us, we would eat it and it would taste exactly the same. Laura ThomasYeah. It sounds like he is very sensitive to these minute changes and differences in who knows if it's a, a texture, a flavor, a scent even if, you know, we know that some kids are just very sensory hypersensitive. And it sounds like that's the kind of kiddo you have. Rachel MillnerYes, for sure. He's like that across the board and I don't know why I was able to so clearly see that in other realms and with food, I understood that he had certain foods he liked and other foods that he was like, I don't, I'm not interested in it.And that was fine. I understood that, but I did not, until we did this sort of taste test, have a really deep understanding of how sensitive he was to different tastes and flavors. Laura ThomasAnd it's, it's making me think of a conversation that I have pretty frequently with parents, which is around this idea that, you know, in so many different domains, we trust our kids, we believe them, you know, when they tell us something isn't quite right, we are very attuned to their needs and, you know, really encourage them to be independent and encourage them to use their voice to speak up when something doesn't feel right until it comes to food where we are constantly undermining their instincts. And I don't mean that as a judgment, but just as an observation and, you know, we can trace that back quite clearly to diet culture and usually anti-fat bias.But yeah, I just wondered your thoughts on that. Rachel Millner:Yeah, I see that a lot. And I think absolutely diet, culture, anti-fat bias have an impact. I also think there's, you know, this message to parents that food is something that we are supposed to control in some way. That we are supposed to know some way to feed our kids that is going to allow them to have whatever vision of a relationship with food, which is usually rooted in diet and anti-fat bias.And that we sometimes somehow have control over that. Laura Thomas: Yeah. Rachel MillnerThat if we expose them to certain foods, if we feed them certain things, that somehow that's gonna predict an outcome. Laura ThomasYeah. Yeah. And it's, it's so, it's so pernicious because it goes all the way even to like preconception, pregnancy, this idea that, you know, if you eat fricking kale, that your baby can taste it in the amniotic fluid, which is definitely true.But then the extension of that logic is that, you know, you can program your child to be a perfect eater, which is totally antithetical to the information that we have around food neophobia. And it's also ableist as hell because of what we just talked about, that there are people who are neuro divergent. I, I don't know if that's true for your kid or not. Rachel MillnerIt's neuro divergent. Yeah. Laura ThomasYeah. So, you know, to say that, you know, or to even give parents this false promise that their kids are gonna be, you know, just, mainlining kale and broccoli.It's just so unrealistic. And like I said, ableist because we know that even for, even for neurotypical kids, that a developmental stage that they're most likely going to go through is that food neophobic stage where they pretty much reject everything that isn't beige food. Rachel MillnerYeah. There's such, it's all such bullshit, right?Like there's so many layers of problems with these messages. I mean, just starting with like, I don't know that many pregnant people who really want to eat kale and broccoli. Laura ThomasSeriouslyRachel MillnerWhen I was pregnant, like kale would've been the last thing that I would've wanted to eat. So like these messages to pregnant people that we're supposed to forgo our own cravings and our own desires, because somehow we have this, you know, responsibility to our children, is a problem.The idea that like somehow we're doing a better job if our kids come out wanting kale is a problem. Like, why don't we want our kids to come out, wanting, I don't know, ice cream or some other dessert food, like why are we like elevating kale or you know, whatever over some other food. Laura ThomasAbsolutely. Rachel MillnerYou know? And then like you said, the ableism. And I always want to ask the question of people of, if you weren't worried about fatness, would you be doing this? Like, if you weren't worried that your kids were gonna be fat, would you actually be focused on kale? Would you actually be trying to avoid feeding them certain foods? And usually the answer is no.You know, sometimes people have some of the like healthism that's in there too, but I would say the vast majority of the time, if people are really honest with themselves and able to like dig deeper, the answer to that question is no. Laura ThomasYeah. I love that as a kind of litmus test for, you know, what, what's actually going on.And yeah, as you were speaking there about the, the healthism side of things, I was thinking yeah, but if you peel back that layer underneath that is most likely some anti-fat bias and it, yeah, I think we need to kind of really sit with that and, and what it is that we're afraid of. And what I often encourage parents to do is notice what's coming up for them as well in terms of their relationship with food.Cuz I think that when we have anxieties about what our kids are or aren't eating, it's often a reflection of what might be going on for us in terms of our own relationship with food. What are your thoughts on that? Rachel MillnerYeah, I totally agree with that. I think that's absolutely the case and you see it in a lot of different directions with parents, you know, where either they feel like they've had a disordered relationship with food and they think they're trying to prevent that in their kids, but do it in a misguided way.I've seen a lot for parents who are in larger bodies. Wanting to prevent their kids from being in larger bodies because the parents have experienced weight stigma and know how much pain and shame there can be with that. And so this idea that if I can prevent my child from being fat, I can protect them from the anti-fat bias and weight stigma that I've endured.And so I've seen a lot of that. Like I think there's so much about, as parents, our own experiences around food and body that guides what we do. Laura ThomasI was frantically trying to write down, like, make note of what you were saying there so that I could come back and ask you about it. Because yeah, you hit on two things that were really important and I'd love to go back and, and unpack them both a little bit more.So the first one, remind me what that was. Rachel MillnerThat for parents who have had a disordered relationship with food and that they're trying in a misguided way to prevent their kids from having a disordered relationship with food. Laura ThomasSo can you unpack that a little more? What, what do you mean by a misguided way to kind of protect their relationship with food?Rachel MillnerI think that sometimes parents will limit access to food. So with the idea that if I don't have my kid eat certain foods, then their relationship with food is gonna be more intuitive than, you know, the parents' relationship was. I've seen, it was interesting. I was with a parent recently and they were talking about sort of the internal conflict around both wanting their child to eat in order for them to have an internal instinct to eat. Because they had experienced being in school where a lot of kids had eating disorders, and so they wanted to make sure that their kid felt really confident with eating and eating consistently.And at the same time, they were giving messages about what foods were and weren't okay to eat because they were worried about not wanting their kid to only eat certain types of foods and. I know that this parent was really trying to support their kid and not having a disordered relationship with food.And I was listening to what they were saying and I'm like, Oh my gosh, what a mind fuck. Right? For the parent and the kid, like there's so much anxiety there of like this constant like trying to like balance out these like opposing messages all coming from a good place in the parent. Laura ThomasAnd sometimes it's not even what we say, but what we do and the example I see of this over and over and over again is where, you know, we're in theory practicing this concept of food neutrality, right?So, you know, we are not calling foods a treat. There's no good or bad foods, or no healthier, unhealthy foods. And yet sweets never come into the house or sweets only come into the house on special occasions, and, and so there's a real disconnect. I wrote about this actually in an article that went out today on my Substack, so I'll link back to that for anyone who missed it.But it's, yeah, this idea that Well, I guess what I was thinking about when I was writing that piece is that kids are so fucking perceptive, right? It's not always about what you are or aren't saying, but, but also if you're not showing that in your actions as well, if you're not, you know, practicing this concept of, of food neutrality, it's not gonna translate.And, and they're gonna pick up on that message despite the best of your intentions. Rachel MillnerTotally. That's so true. And yeah, not bringing certain foods into the house or only having them sometimes, or having them, but only offering them at certain times. And actually this is, it's a theme I even hear in like the intuitive eating world.Laura ThomasYes!Rachel MillnerWhere people will say, Oh, if you raise kids who are exposed to all different kinds of foods and you don't elevate one food over another they're gonna have less interest in certain foods. And I'll often hear the example of, Oh, you know, the kid who was raised with more access, you know, at a birthday party when they're given cake and ice cream might only eat a little bit of it.Whereas the kids who have been deprived might eat all of it and then want more and more. And that's still sending a message that only eating part of those foods is like holding it up and elevating it as like the better way of nourishing their body. Like it's used as an example of like, look what we've done. These kids are not eating all of the cake and all of the ice cream. And so I think even in the intuitive eating world, there's these messages. Laura ThomasAnd I'm gonna hold my hands up and say that I, I've, you know, played into that narrative. I think in some of the things that I've said and written, but I, it's something I've been reflecting a lot on lately is, you know, how in inadvertently the anti diet parenting world in, you know, trying to raise our kids to be attuned to their bodies, a lot of the advice that gets put out in that world really parallels and mirrors, you know, binaries similar to what we see in diet culture. And so, you know, I very much try and caveat because there's two, there are two things going on, right? We know that habituation is a real phenomenon, right? When kids are, have more regular access, you know, when they're more attuned to how it feels in their body to, to have too much or too little sweets, let's just say for argument's sake, that they are, you know, they learn what is an appropriate amount for their body and simultaneously kids fucking love sweetsSo it's totally fine, you know, it is, I don't love the word normal, but you know what I mean, Like it's appropriate that they kind of go nuts around sweets to a certain extent. Does that make sense what, what I'm trying to say? That it's, it's the both and of that. Rachel MillnerYeah. Yeah. I think so.I mean, sweets are delicious and so are lots of other foods. And I really think with sweets, like if there weren't so many cultural messages, how kids would, and adults would, you know, interact with sweets differently. Because even, you know, like my kids are not exposed to any guiding messages at home, but like at school, they are.One of my kids really likes peanut butter cups, the candy. And I had, I think I took the dogs for a walk and I got back and he had, and my kids have full access to whatever they want in the kitchen. And he had taken out a bag of peanut butter cups and they all had individual wrappers.So on the couch when I got back next to him was the bigger bag of peanut butter cups and maybe like, I don't know, eight or 10 of the peanut butter cup individual wrappers. And the thing that struck me was that they were on the couch and there was no shame. Because when I was a kid, If we had had peanut butter cups in the house, which we probably wouldn't have, but if we did and I took the opportunity to eat some, when my parents were out, I would've hid those wrappers at the bottom of a trash can where my parents would never find them.And so it was a reminder to me that what we're really talking about is how to support kids in not having shame around their relationship with food and their body. Laura ThomasI love that. I really, really love that. That's such a, I think, a helpful way to frame this conversation. And I'm wondering, you know, in what other ways do you support that? What does that look like in your house? And, and also by extension, what does that conversation sound like around bodies as well. Sorry, that was like five questions in one, take your pick.Rachel MillnerThat's okay. Yeah, I think I'll start with bodies. I mean, the way that it, what it sounds like around bodies is, you know, all bodies are different.Bodies come in a range of sizes, bodies change all the time. We don't control the size of our bodies. Like, you know, we, that's not something we get to control, that our bodies are really wise. I talk really openly about being in a fat body and we talk really openly about weight stigma and anti-fat bias.We identify it in, you know, shows or, I mean, kid shows are incredibly fat phobic. And so we talk about it there. We, when it comes up in school, we talk about it. When I can predict that something's gonna be fat phobic, I opt them out of it. But then we still have conversations about it. So that's the conversations we have. I make sure they're exposed to images of fat bodies. I make sure they recognize the harm of weight stigma. My one son, we were at an outdoor festival the other day and they went up, they were selling, they had campfires and they were selling like s'more kits that you could buy.And it was likeLaura ThomasAll sounds very wholesome. Rachel. Rachel MillnerYeah. It was super fun. And they, my son came back and he's like, Mommy, I'm confused. And I was like, What are you confused about? And he's like, All of the people selling the food, like who were taking the money, were, he says, were girls and they were all tall and skinny, and all of the people cooking the food were also girls who were short and fat.How come the skinny people were taking the money and the fat people were cooking the food? And that doesn't make any sense. So, like his observation was an opportunity for us to then have a conversation about that. And what are some reasons that might have been, because it's not like these were like places that they were gourmet chefs.Like anybody could have been cooking the food and anybody could have been the money. So why did they have it set up this way? So I think those are the kinds of conversations that we have so they can identify weight stigma when they see it. Laura ThomasIt's so cool to me that, you know, they made that observation and brought that to you to be able to kind of unpack that, like, I don't know. I feel that some parents, well, first of all, some kids might not have even felt comfortable bringing that to their parents in the first place, but then the parents might not have known what to do with it. Because it, it can be really challenging to have these types of conversations.So yeah, it's just feels really cool to me that they, they felt comfortable having that conversation with you. Rachel MillnerYeah, I appreciated that he brought it back to me. And I don't ever want to sound like I always know what to do in these situations. Cause I absolutely fumble through a lot of them and mess up and have to go back later and be like, you know, I was thinking about that and I feel like I got it wrong, or I wanna add to what I was saying before.Laura ThomasYeah, no, we're not into perfect parenting over here. Yeah. I fuck it up daily. And so, Rachel MillnerYes, me too. Laura ThomasWe're all learning and just kind of trying to muddle through this. Yeah. And, and so there's, there's absolutely no judgment here about anything. You know, with some caveats, like if you hurt your child, that's not okay.Rachel MillnerYes. So yeah, we're gonna judge certain things.Laura ThomasCertain things, I will call the cops on your ass, right? So going in a few different directions. But you know, so you started off talking a little bit about how, you know, for, for your kids and, and that particular scenario where they were eating the peanut butter cups that you were really fostering this environment of, of no shame around food.And yeah, again, given that diet, culture messaging is everywhere, I'm sure that they're getting these like nutrition education lessons in school and, you know, told, taught about like my plate or whatever other horse shit. Yeah. Again, it would be great to hear some thoughts about how you are, are, what that looks like in, in your house.Rachel MillnerYeah. So what we talk a lot about is some people haven't learned this stuff yet because I also don't wanna shame their friends or their friends parents or, you know, the school. Like I can name where harm is happening, which I do a lot, is naming like, this is harmful and here's why. And some people haven't learned yet how the impact of weight stigma or that bodies come in all shapes and sizes or that food is neutral and there's no good foods or bad foods. Laura ThomasI think that that's like a really important piece from the perspective of like relating across difference as well, because, you know, we're, our kids are always going to come into contact with people who have different ideas, different beliefs, and how, you know, there's, it's important, I think, to teach them how to, you know, stay in right relationship with people whilst, you know bridging these differences. Rachel MillnerYeah, exactly. I mean, you know, let me be clear, I totally shame the people who voted for Trump or, Laura ThomasOh yeah.Rachel MillnerWe're like, we're in Pennsylvania and I don't, Dr. Oz is running for governor here. Laura ThomasHoly fuck. I thought I saw that somewhere and I was like, no, surely not. That's a real thing? Rachel MillnerYeah, it's a real thing. Laura ThomasThat's, that's terrifying.Rachel MillnerI shame people who are voting for him. But when it comes to where people are in terms of their relationship with food and body, I want my kids to understand the complexity of it and the history of weight stigma and where people have gotten these messages.And I've been open with them in small amounts about my own history and like what my parents were like growing up. And so we've even talked about like, you know, they call my parents Grammy and Poppy and my parents live very close to us and we see them all the time. And my parents are drastically different with my kids than they were with me. I think partly cuz they know I wouldn't let them see my kids if they weren't different about food and body. But what I've told them, cuz my kids will be like, Well why were Grammy and Poppy not nice to you about your body? Or why didn't they let you have certain foods? And I'm like, they didn't know at the time, like, you know, they were doing the best that they could and what they did was not okay. It was harmful, it was trauma. And like some people haven't learned yet and thank goodness Grammy and Poppy have been willing to learn over time and do it differently. And so that's, you know, the way that I talk about it with my kids is just some people haven't learned yet. Laura ThomasIt sounds like you have had to have some potentially quite tough conversations and do a lot of boundary setting is that fair to say?Rachel MillnerYes. And a lot of the hard conversations happened before I had kids. Which I think made it easier in a lot of ways. When I was really actively struggling with an eating disorder that's when a lot of these conversations happened. And so by the time I was having my kids, a lot of this had already changed.My parents, by the time I was having kids, they never would have commented on bodies or talked about, you know, weight loss or anything. Where I am foreseeing, and I'm sort of like bracing myself for when my kids are a little bit older and start to notice the ways that my parents restrict. And you know, like when you were saying earlier, like. kIds notice what we're doing. I think my parents, my kids haven't noticed yet because I don't restrict. And so I think when we're all together, they're more attuned to what I'm doing than to what my parents are doing. But I am sure there's gonna be a point at which they start to pick up on my parents restrictive relationship with food. And so that's another conversation we're gonna have to have. Laura ThomasWe might need to do a part two down the line when you've had that conversation. Because it's just, yeah, it's something that, again I hear parents really struggle with this and you know how to not, you know, it's one thing to set the boundary, it's another thing for, you know, when that person doesn't respect that boundary or you, you know, you have to reinforce and reinforce and reinforce, and there's still, you know, not even that, they're not getting it, they just are like, No, I'm not gonna respect that.It's just such a tough place to be in. But I wanted to jump back to the other kind of challenge that, you know, you were mentioning earlier, sort of two things that you see happen, one of which is sort of a misguided attempt to you know, help someone have a, a good relationship with food, but it sort of, you know, maybe going about it in a way that's perhaps less helpful.And then the other thing that you mentioned was parents in who themselves are fat or in larger bodies, you know, depending on what language you prefer to use, who are trying to prevent their kids from becoming fat because of their own experiences with anti fat bias and weight stigma. I'd love to hear your thoughts on this cause this just feels like such a tough one.Rachel MillnerYeah, it is. And it's so complicated cuz I have so much empathy and understanding of why when a parent is in a fat body, has dealt with a lot of stigma and anti-fat bias and shame around their body size, that, you know, we don't want our kids to experience pain and we wanna protect them. And so there's this idea that if we can somehow prevent our kids from being fat, that we can protect them.And the reality and why parenting is so hard is that we don't get to protect our kids from hurt and pain and we don't have control over their body size. And so I think the ways that we can protect our kids to help them not feel shame about their body, to help them also understand that they don't get to control the size of their body, to teach them that there's nothing wrong with being fat.And then to hold space when they do, if they are in fat bodies, that they do experience weight stigma and be able to talk about it with them and empathize and validate and all of the things that our kids need from us around other issues. You know, it's, it's hard. Like I really, I just have so much empathy, you know, as a fat parent and, you know, thinking about other fat parents and how much we wanna protect our kids. And how hard it is that we don't get to. And you know, I think about it with, anything really, like the response to harm isn't to change ourselves. You know, like if kids are being bullied for something, the ways to address it is not to tell the kid who's being bullied that their body needs to change.The way to address it is with the person who's doing the bullying. And that's true, you know, across the board with anti fat bias. Laura ThomasYes. Which is not the narrative that we hear from public health, right. There's so much victim blaming when it comes to you know, weight stigma, reduction in, in sort of public health.I'm thinking of, there's a specifically a, a report that the World Health Organization put out quite a while ago now, like in 2017, but it, it effectively says, you know, children who experience weight stigma have, you know, lower quality of life and, you know, all this like clinical language that is basically like, yeah, it fucking sucks for kids.And the way that we should resolve that is to make sure that kids are thinner rather than, I'm just like, Is nobody else seeing this? Like how we've just completely flipped the script here and like looking in the wrong place for solutions. Like the solution, yes. I think, you know, there is an aspect of, of this where we can develop, help kids develop resilience and particularly from shame, as you were saying.And at the same time, we need to change the culture, not the child. Rachel MillnerRight. I mean, it's so obvious and it's a reminder of how the, you know, diet industry and they're just, the like narrow-mindedness and inability to be willing to think more critically. It's, I mean, basically like no shit. People who experience oppression and trauma and marginalization struggle more? Like yeah, of course they do.And like maybe we need to figure out how to not oppress people. And not traumatize them. And that it actually has nothing to do with fatness, but they're so unwilling because of money to look more critically. Laura ThomasI was thinking about this from the perspective of public health, nutrition and food, you know, food apartheid, food serenity.These types of issues often get called like food deserts, which isn't really helpful language, but you know, it's the public health nutrition instinct to be like when people can't afford food. The thought process and the logic is, well, let's make food cheaper instead of let's make less people poor. Rachel MillnerRight.Laura ThomasThat's so fucking backwards. It's so regressive. You know, Why wouldn't we try and lift people up out of poverty rather than make fucking kale more affordable? Right? It just makes no sense when you break it down like that. Anyway, I think we're slightly digressing here, but you know, you kinda you touched on a little bit of your own experiences being a fat parent, and I wanted to ask you a little bit more about this if you're comfortable sharing.And, and one thing in particular I hear from, from fat parents who want to parent in, you know, in alignment with their values for you know, reducing, reducing harm in their food parenting. I'm not really quite sure, I haven't really thought about this question as you can tell, but yeah, I suppose parents who want to allow their kids to eat you know, what they want to eat and to have ice cream and to have access to sweet foods and to not restrict and control and micromanage every single mouthful that passes their lips. And at the same time, because they know, right, they know that that's the probably the most protective thing that they can do in terms of that child's relationship with food.And at the same time, they fear the judgment and just the glares from people. And not even just the glares, but the comments that are made. Oh, you know, you're gonna let them eat that? Or have you had enough? You know, like trying to step in and, and police that child on their behalf. And I was just curious, you know, if you've had any experience of situations like this and what you would say to parents in, in a similar position.Rachel MillnerYeah. So I mean, the first thing I wanna say is it sucks, right? It's not your fault and it sucks. And you know, for most of us who still, you know, are unpacking our internalized weight stigma, those moments can bring up a lot of shame. And grounding into what's true in those moments can be so hard to do.Like, you can be flooded because you're trying to deal with what are my kids' needs? What do I need to do to like, support them? What's the judgment that's happening around me? What's it bringing up within me? And that's a lot to hold all at once. What I have found that's helpful for me is one, to have community.So people that I can text and be like, Ugh. This is what's happening. Or like, oh my God, this conversation I'm listening to right now. Or, you know, these people in the way that they're, you know, behaving or what they're doing with their own kids around food. That's really helpful to have that. It like, you know, helps me to remember that like, well, I do have to be with parents, certain parents, they don't have to be my people.Like, you know, they don't have to be the people that are gonna give me that, like, fat positive community. Laura ThomasSure.Rachel MillnerI do try to remind myself that what I'm doing is truth and that like, this isn't really up for debate. Like this isn't, Oh, we have different opinions on something. I mean, we do have different opinions, but we're talking about something that is just true and they are doing something that is rooted in stigma and that's not truth.So I try to remind myself of that. And, you know, some of it is like, it's just hard. Like, you know, as much as I want to say something to make it less hard, like it stinks to be in that situation and it is hard and it can feel really isolating. And you know, sometimes we just have to sit with that and there's not a lot we can do in the moment that's gonna make that feel different, you know, except to try to have people we can reach out to, like I said, and remind ourselves of what we know to be true and that you know, they've been indoctrinated into diet culture and that it's not really about my body, even though it's being projected onto my body. Laura ThomasYeah, Yeah. Wow. There's, I think everything that you've said there is, you're speaking to the messiness of this, the kind of both and of you can, you know, when you, when you can ground yourself and access the part of yourself that knows, like, no, this is, this is aligned with my values and this is the right thing for me to be doing with my kids. And how painful an experience that is. You know, both can be true simultaneously. And yeah, I'm here for the, the messiness and the discomfort of that. The, you know, the, the further into this, like I have a, a two year old and the further into this parenting journey I get, and also as I notice the edges of my body privilege kind of changing as well, I realize more and more how important it is to have that community and have that safe space to be like, can you fucking believe what this asshole just said.Yeah. Like you know, so yeah. That community aspect is, is, is so important. And I hope that, you know, this podcast and, and what I'm doing with the newsletter as well can serve as, I know it's not a replacement for having your people in real life, but that, that there is an element of, of building community here that I, I really want, so. Okay. We have two last questions that I wanna close out with. So, first of all, and it's kind of the flip of the question that I asked you at the beginning, who or what is nourishing you right now? Like we said at the top, like you got a lot of plates spinning, and you're also a badass therapist on top of like, you know, being a single parent of two kids and the pet owner and all of that kind of stuff. So I'm just curious to hear, you know, what's, yeah, what's keeping you afloat? Rachel MillnerTelevision big time is something that nourishes me. Kind of going back to the, the pets. But the second pet we just rescued in the beginning of the summer. And she's two years old and she is just the sweetest, most loving dog. And like, she sleeps in my bed and she like snuggles up. Like she's just the sweetest and she's nourishing me. I know the question is bigger than food, but in terms of food, Laura ThomasNo. I'm so here for the food. Like, cause that's it, it's, food is, it's so integral and it's not, this is not meant to exclude food because I something that, and this is total tangent, it's not anything to do with you, but like reclaiming the joy of food is just such an important piece of this. And in last week's episode, I talked to Julia Turshen about this and how that in and of itself is a privilege. A huge privilege. And that's really, really layered, but the both and of this is that, yeah, food can be nourishing, not on the physical plane, obviously it's that, but on the emotional level as well. So it's, yes. That's my soap box moment. Rachel MillnerSo we have a food here called water ice. I say water ice, everyone's like, that doesn't sound that exciting. Water ice is like a thicker, creamier version of like Italian ice. That is what a lot of people know. Like, kind of,Laura ThomasLike a snow cone kinda thing?Rachel MillnerSo sort of, so think about a snow cone, but a lot creamier and thicker that can come in like a million different flavors.So like last night we went to this water ice place here and I got half peanut butter cup and half pumpkin pie. And it's made with the actual chunks of whatever. So like there's actual peanut butter cups and there's like the graham crackers from like the pumpkin pie crust. And I live in a fairly like small town outside of Philadelphia. And this water ice place that's like five minutes from my house wins like the best water ice of this area, like every year. And it's only open from like March to October, so it closes for this season on Sunday. But when it's open, we go several times every week. They have like rotating flavors, so like, and they're super creative with like what they come up with to make so that throughout like it's sort of like, you know, the like ritual here that like throughout like spring and summer, the water ice is definitely one of the things that nourishes me and my family. My kids love it too. So it's kind of, you know, like our thing that, you know, at the end of the day we'll go and get it and we all enjoy it together. Laura ThomasAnd that's what I was kind of like, that's what came to mind is like you all going together and like sharing a moment. And yes, it's about the food, but it's also about so much more than the food.And, and I think yeah, that there's, you know, the thinking about nourishment from that more expensive perspective. And also just like I couldn't help but laugh when you were like, Oh, it's this like, like very specifically summer, spring, summer warm weather thing and also pumpkin spice flavor, like, or pumpkin pie flavour, I was like, it kind of blew my mind a little bit.And I'm also like, today, the day we're recording, this is like the first like really cold day that we're having here. And I'm like shivering, but refusing to turn my heating on. And you're talking about this like, what sounds like delicious, but is also making me feel really cold. I'm gonna go make myself a cup tea when we get off this call.Alright Rachel, the last question I have for you is what are you snacking on right now? And again, this is kind of a recommendation segment that I ask all my guests at the end of the episode. And it's just like something that you're really into at the moment that you wanna share with the audience. So it can be an, an actual snack if you have something on top of the water ice. It can be a book podcast, like literally anything. What's your recommendation? Rachel MillnerOkay, so I'm gonna name, this is like, just wanna acknowledge the huge privilege in this. Laura ThomasGo on. Rachel MillnerBut we live really close to New York and are able to, you know, every so often go see shows on Broadway. And I just took my son who wanted to go, I had already seen Hamilton, but he really wanted to see it. And so I took him, it was for a birthday present, like first time he's ever been to Broadway and he loved it. And now is like asking me when we can go back and see another show, which is like, I'm so ecstatic, I'm like, Oh my gosh, how did I like end up with a child who wants to go see more shows? Cuz that's just, I'm just so excited. So that's really nourishing and fulfilling for me and just something that I really enjoy. And then what else am I stacking on right now? Always on, I don't, do you know, Andrea Gibson? They are an incredible poet and,Laura ThomasI don't think I'm familiar, no. Rachel MillnerSo I highly recommend checking them out. But they, so I've been a huge fan of their work for many, many years and they've gotten, their poetry, has gotten me through some hard times and they've now started a newsletter and they like record videos and a lot of their early poetry, like many poets was, you know, talking about trauma and really hard times in their life.And a lot of their work now is about joy and love and beauty and all of that. And just taking that in has been really wonderful. And, you know, thinking about like snacks, it's like, you know, these little snippets, like they send, you know, these newsletters. And so that's the other thing that, and really they are a brilliant poet, so I highly recommend checking them out.Laura ThomasI can't wait to look at their work. And I will, if you can send me the link, I'll put it in the show notes so that everyone else can check it out as well. And yeah, I was gonna share my thing, which I was thinking of like a few different things before we start our conversation. So I'm just like, which one am I gonna pick?And I think since you just did a newsletter, I'm gonna also share a newsletter that I've really been enjoying. It's called Vittles and it is a food based kind of newsletter, but it's specifically kind of documenting, how would I, how would I even put it? Like, so Ruby Tandoh, who a lot of people probably know from Bakeoff, you know, the Great British Bakeoff? So she writes this column for Vittles called Incidental Eating. And she talks about like, just all of these like nostalgic foods, like donuts at the beach and like there's like this specific kind of ice cream that you get in the UK called like a Whippy Ice Cream.And so she talks about that in this newsletter. Plus they document like different, food cultures from all over the country. But it's all all kind of rooted in like working class food culture. So it's kind of like this fuck you to like, you know, food critics in the Guardian or like, you know, all this kind of like, everything that's tends to be really hyper focused on London.And yeah, I just really enjoy, you know, like the hyper local food culture that they talk about and they just, yeah, write about it in such this, in this like really, you know, wholesome way that makes you wanna go to Sheffield and eat pies. I dunno. Rachel Millner Oh, that's awesome. Laura Thomas So yeah, I really love that newsletter. So yeah, if you enjoy Ruby Tando's work, it's a lot of stuff kind of in that vein. So, yeah. Rachel, before I let you go can you just share with everyone where they can find out more about you and your work? Rachel Millner Yeah, so most of my social media time is on Instagram. My Instagram is @drrachelmillner. And then it connects to my professional Facebook, which is just Rachel Millner Psy.D. But I would say Instagram is like the main place that I am. And then my website is rachelmillnertherapy.com. Laura Thomas Thank you so much for being here and just yeah, sharing your thoughts on sort of anti diet parenting and just how kind of complicated it all is so, yeah, I really appreciate you being here. Rachel Millner Yeah, thanks for having me.Laura ThomasThank you so much for listening to this week's episode of Can I Have Another Snack? If you enjoyed this episode, please take a moment to rate and review in your podcast player and head over to laurathomas.substack.com for the full transcript of this conversation, plus links we discussed in the episode and how you can find out more about this week's guest. While you're over there, consider signing up for either a free or paid subscription Can I Have Another Snack? newsletter, where I'm exploring topics around bodies, identity and appetite, especially as it relates to parenting. Also, it's totally cool if you're not a parent, you're welcome too. We're building a really awesome community of cool, creative and smart people who are committed to ending the tyranny of body shame and intergenerational transmission of disordered eating. Can I Have Another Snack? is hosted by me, Laura Thomas, edited by Joeli Kelly, our funky artwork is by Caitlin Preyser. And the music is by Jason Barkhouse. And lastly Fiona Bray keeps me on track and makes sure this episode gets out every week. This episode wouldn't be possible without your support. So thank you for being here and valuing my work and I'll catch you next week. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit laurathomas.substack.com/subscribe
In these fractured times l wanted to continue to look at how stories and food can overcome the distance between people and enhance our shared experiences so earlier this year I spent time exploring storytelling through food writing. I interviewed some very talented writers who tell stories through their food writing to find out why how food has shaped their writing and in what ways food enhances their storytelling. They have all had different experiences around food which has influenced how they write and the subjects they write about. In their own ways they use their writing to break down barriers through stories and food. I hope you find these conversations as fascinating as I did. My third interview is with Robbie Armstrong. Robbie is an audio producer, writer and broadcast journalist based in Glasgow. He has reported stories for BBC News, BBC Radio 4 and BBC Radio Scotland, produced for The Food Programme, Feedback and Podlitical, written for The Guardian and Vittles, and worked as a restaurant reviewer for The List Magazine's Eating & Drinking Guide. He can be found on Twitter/Instagram @robbiejourno and his website is robbiearmstrong.com You can find the rest of the interviews in this series here: How Food Frames Stories. You can find my interviews with storytellers here: Vernacular Voices of the Storyteller You can subscribe (or just read) my free newsletter for further snippets of folklore, history, stories, vintage recipes, herblore & the occasional cocktail. You can also find out more at Hestia's Kitchen which has all past episodes and the connected recipes on the blog. If you'd like to get in touch about the podcast you can find me on Twitter or Instagram at @FairyTalesFood. If you fancy signing up to my newsletter then you can read my first one and see if you like it.
In these fractured times l wanted to continue to look at how stories and food can overcome the distance between people and enhance our shared experiences so earlier this year I spent time exploring storytelling through food writing. I interviewed some very talented writers who tell stories through their food writing to find out why how food has shaped their writing and in what ways food enhances their storytelling. They have all had different experiences around food which has influenced how they write and the subjects they write about. In their own ways they use their writing to break down barriers through stories and food. I hope you find these conversations as fascinating as I did. In my first interview I would like to introduce Aaron Vallance, who as well as being a talented food writer, is a psychiatrist, working in a community NHS child and adolescent mental health service. He has pieces in food publications such as Vittles and Lecker, but also publishes on his blog, 1 Dish 4 The Road, which has twice been shortlisted by the Guild of Food Writers. I fell in love with his writing on his blog through the piece he wrote about connections and his grandfather and I've been hooked ever since Curry & Kneidlach: A Tale of Two Immigrant Families He was also kind enough to say that listening to my last series of interviews with storytellers, inspired him to think about the nature of stories and storytellers which is reflected in the the marvellous piece Goats, Stews and Stories During our conversation we also mentioned A Warm Embrace at Halwa Poori House Dhal Puri Roti – A History in Three Vignettes Plot Kitchen, Flash Fiction, And The Future of Food Eggy Dates at Nandine – From Kurdistan to Camberwell Grandma Beryl's Chicken Soup You can find my interviews with storytellers here: Vernacular Voices of the Storyteller You can subscribe (or just read) my free newsletter for further snippets of folklore, history, stories, vintage recipes, herblore & the occasional cocktail. You can also find out more at Hestia's Kitchen which has all past episodes and the connected recipes on the blog. If you'd like to get in touch about the podcast you can find me on Twitter or Instagram at @FairyTalesFood. If you fancy signing up to my newsletter then you can read my first one and see if you like it.
Hosted by Andrew Keen, Keen On features conversations with some of the world's leading thinkers and writers about the economic, political, and technological issues being discussed in the news, right now. In this episode, Andrew is joined by Rebecca May Johnson, author of Small Fires: An Epic in the Kitchen. Rebecca May Johnson is a writer whose writing brings critical practices into everyday life. She has published essays, reviews and nonfiction with Granta, Times Literary Supplement, Daunt Books Publishing, and Vittles, among others. She was a creative writing fellow at the British School at Rome in 2021. She earned a PhD in Contemporary German Literature from UCL in 2016.She also uses online publishing to conduct stylistic experiments: her essay “I Dream of Canteens” was published via TinyLetter and gained widespread acclaim, winning The Browser prize for the best piece on the internet in April 2019. Her anonymous waitressing series was voted in the Observer Food Monthly Top 50 of 2018. She was finalist in the Young British Foodies writing prize judged by Marina O'Loughlin and Yotam Ottolenghi. She publishes a newsletter called dinner document where she shares recipes and thoughts about food every week. Small Fires is her first book. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Lemn is tucking in the British Library Sound Archive with food writer Jonathan Nunn. Jonathan edits the food newsletter Vittles, and has written for various publications including the Guardian and Eater. Together, they're exploring the relationship between food and language: both are passed down through generations and are closely linked to identity. But how do the ways we talk about food change over time? And what does the history of food writing tell us about how society has changed? Recordings in the episode in order of appearance: French chef Xavier Boulestin explains how to make an omelette. The recording was made in July 1932. British Library shelfmark: 9CS0012507 Jim from Norfolk speaks about brewing beer. The recording was made between 1980-1989 by Gressenhall Rural Life Museum and Farm. The original recording is held in the Norfolk Record Office and was digitised by the Unlocking Our Sound Heritage project. British Library shelfmark: UNRO004/84 Madhur Jaffrey, cook and writer of over 15 cookbooks, speaks to Ravinder Bhogal, food-writer and the chef-restaurateur of London's Jikoni. The online event ‘Madhur Jaffrey: A Life In Food' was recorded in May 2021 as part of the British Library Food Season. Full conversation: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JjnR3keoDIA&t=497s An oral history interview with a woman called Agnes Davey from Norfolk about hot cross buns. The interview was recorded in Norwich in April 1986, it is held in the Norfolk Record Office and was digitised by the Unlocking Our Sound Heritage project. British Library shelfmark: UNRO001/1 A man from Great Yarmouth describes his mother's recipe for Bloater paste, a fish paste made from smoked red herrings. The recording is part of the Norfolk Museums and Archaeology Service and it was digitised by the Unlocking Our Sound Heritage project. British Library shelfmark: UNRO005/35 Maeve and Dick discuss how to make ‘Pig Lug', a Yorkshire dish from the coastal town of Filey. It's similar to a pie or pastry containing currants. The recording is part of the Leeds Archive of Vernacular Culture and it was recorded before 1966. British Library shelfmark: C1829/922 Historian Pen Vogler and writer Ruby Tandoh take part in an online event called ‘From Fish Knives to Fish 'n' Chips' in April 2021. The discussion was recorded by the British Library and the Chair was Babita Sharma, BBC journalist and author of The Corner Shop. Full conversation: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3ytHgPsjTy0 An interview with Tara Din about being the first Asian woman to run a takeaway shop in Tameside. The original recording was stored in the Manchester Central Library and it was digitised as part of the Tameside Oral History Project ‘Here To Stay'. The recording was made in December 2005 in the interviewee's home. British Library shelfmark: UAP015/120 Wing Yip, a Chinese entrepreneur who travelled to England from Hong Kong in the 1950s, describes some of Britain's first Chinese restaurants. This recording was made in 2001 for the National Life Stories project 'Food: From Source to Salespoint' and the interviewer was Polly Russell. British Library shelfmark: C821/62 Cookbook writer Claudia Roden speaks to Polly Russell as part of the 2001 National Life Stories project 'Food: From Source to Salespoint.' British Library shelfmark: C821/47
We talk to coffee siren, spooky stuff enthusiast, entrepreneur, and local business owner Kendall Gendron of Vittles Espresso and Eatery about gratitude and getting stuff done, Dolly Parton, and the many professions of Barbie's boyfriend, Ken.You can find Kendall and Vittles on Instagram @vittlesespresso, Vittles Espresso & Eatery on Facebook, and www.vittlesvt.com. Find us online at www.thefullvermonty.com or email us at thefullvermontypod@gmail.com. You can support the show by making a one time or monthly donation by clicking here!Our super-rad theme music, segues, and outro are by Burlington VT's The Wet Ones! You can find them online at www.thewetones.surf.This episode was sponsored by Cookville Campground in Corinth, VT.This episode was sponsored by Vittles Espresso in Bradford, VT.This episode was recorded at Bradford, VT's The Space on Main.
Prepare to be hungry. Diane and Yulee take this opportunity to talk about one of their favorite pastimes (or form of therapy)...cooking. You will hear how to make chicken and dumplings, Bar B Que ribs, collard greens, and cobbler to name a few. Enjoy and be well.
Dr. Vittles joins the show to discuss the best post season across all sports.
Welcome to our first Special episode of 22: La Fiesta de San Isidro! This fun holiday takes place in Madrid every May 8th - 15th and honors Saint Isidore, the city's patron saint, and María Torribia, his wife. I wanted to do this episode before the actual holiday begins so that, should you so desire, you could join in the festivities wherever you are by making rosquillas or even cocido madrileño! (Remember, since today's episode is a Special, we won't have a Cultural Tip this week.) Remember, learning a language is a lifelong journey.¡Aprovéchalo, Disfrútalo y Compártelo!SHOW NOTES:© 2022 by Language Answers, LLCBlog for Episode 70Intro and Closing Music by Master_Service from FiverrCultural Tip Transition Music edited from song by JuliusH from PixabayResource LinksEpisode Content "San Isidro" by ESMadrid.com, Madrid's official tourist website, last updated April 29, 2022 "Ermita de San Isidro" by ESMadrid.com, Madrid's official tourist website, last updated March 30, 2022 "San Isidro Madrid - Comparsa de GIGANTES Y CABEZUDOS DE MADRID - 2016" uploaded to YouTube by Cicerone TV, Viajes, cultura y buenos restaurantes, on May 18, 2016 "La Pradera de San Isidro in Madrid Spain" uploaded to YouTube by Samuel Garza on May 21, 2019 "San Isidro Festival 2022" by Rove.Me, last updated April 5, 2021 "Feast of Saint Isidore in Madrid" from AnyDayGuide.com "San Isidro Festival" by Spanish Fiestas "Feast of St. Isidro (in lieu) in Madrid in 2022" from OfficeHolidays.com "Intrepid's Ultimate Guide to Fiesta de San Isidro" from IntrepidTravel.com "Clase para aprender a bailar el chotis como un auténtico castizo" uploaded to YouTube by El HuffPost on May 14, 2015 "Chotis Madrid, Madrid, Madrid" uploaded to YouTube by Doriroga on May 16, 2018 La Comida "San Isidro 2020: Receta de entresijos y gallinejas" by Gemma Meca for OK Diario on May 15, 2020 "Gallinejas and Entresijos: The Melancholic Mesentery of Madrid" from Vittles, piece written by Abbas Asaria and posted September 13, 2021 "Cocido Madrileño: The Stew That Has Sustained Madrid for 600 Years" by Lidia Molina Whytefor CultureTrip.com on January 17, 2020 "Cómo hacer un cocido madrileño de manera tradicional y fácil" by Alfonso López from Recetas de Recupetes "COCIDO MADRILEÑO" from Spain Recipes "Cocido Madrileno" by Luis Luna on AllRecipes.com "How To Make Barquillos" uploaded to YouTube by Savor Easy on March 26, 2019 "Barquillos: Spain's unique street food roulette" by Jessica Vincent for the BBC on October 22, 2020 "Limonada madrileña" by Angela CM for Conocer Madrid on March 2, 2013 "Rosquillas" by Renards Gourmets for 196 Flavors "Rosquillas Santa Clara" by Mabel Mendez on Pasteles de Colores "Rosquillas de San Isidro" by Blue Jellybeans on May 18, 2011 Cultural TipNone
#150. Happy birthday, Dillon! And here's to 150 episodes of From the Middle! This episode marks the inaugural run of a new segment, “Answers from the Middle.” You provided us with some questions and situations for us to comment on and share our judgement, and we responded. We really enjoyed this segment and we hope you do as well. We have more to get to in the coming weeks, but please keep your questions coming! Details are in the LinkTree below for where you can do that. We also discuss how men should or should not address each other. Dillon shares a new experience with SiriusXM. Is it worth subscribing when you're already streaming from so many other places? Kory had his first fatherly experience of a daughter attending a formal with a date and how he managed to find something that resembles comfort. It was a fun one to record, and we hope you have fun listening. Thank you for your support! You mean everything to this podcast.Main Landing Page - https://linktr.ee/fromthemidpodVOICE MAIL! Comment, ask a question, suggest topics - (614) 383-8412Artius Man - https://artiusman.com use discount code "themiddle"
Host Peter J Kim takes a trip to the United Kingdom to explore puddings, PFCs, and the mysterious saveloy dip. Food Network host Mary McCartney invites us into her home to talk about the importance of Sunday roasts, and food and music memories with her father Paul McCartney. Jonathan Nunn, the founder of Vittles, guides us through the most important food on the streets of London—and it's not fish and chips. Through it all, listen to music by British rapper, Hyphen, who accurately describes his style as "sexy lounge rap." Our next episode is coming out in just a couple of weeks, but in the meantime, check out Counterjam on Spotify for Peter's playlist of the wonderful musicians from this and past seasons.
Host Peter J Kim takes a trip to the United Kingdom to explore puddings, PFCs, and the mysterious saveloy dip. Food Network host Mary McCartney invites us into her home to talk about the importance of Sunday roasts, and food and music memories with her father Paul McCartney. Jonathan Nunn, the founder of Vittles, guides us through the most important food on the streets of London—and it's not fish and chips. Through it all, listen to music by British rapper, Hyphen, who accurately describes his style as "sexy lounge rap." Our next episode is coming out in just a couple of weeks, but in the meantime, check out Counterjam on Spotify for Peter's playlist of the wonderful musicians from this and past seasons.
Host Peter J Kim takes a trip to the United Kingdom to explore puddings, PFCs, and the mysterious saveloy dip. Food Network host Mary McCartney invites us into her home to talk about the importance of Sunday roasts, and food and music memories with her father Paul McCartney. Jonathan Nunn, the founder of Vittles, guides us through the most important food on the streets of London—and it's not fish and chips. Through it all, listen to music by British rapper, Hyphen, who accurately describes his style as "sexy lounge rap." Our next episode is coming out in just a couple of weeks, but in the meantime, check out Counterjam on Spotify for Peter's playlist of the wonderful musicians from this and past seasons.
Two alive, one dead. Who are you inviting to dinner? The boys end up with an interesting, some would say disapointing invitee list. Dr. Vittles makes his return!
We are so thrilled to chop it up with our new friend, Shayna from Vacay and Vittles! In Her Own Words... Some people like to collect things like stamps or shot glasses; I am a collector (and sharer) of experiences. Whether I'm traveling the world or trying a new restaurant down the street, I enjoy exploring the unknown and sharing those moments with others either thru videos and photographs or in person via the events I host. "Vacays & Vittles" started as an Instagram page for solely for my food and travel pictures after a couple of my friends told me I post too much of them on MY personal page (#Haters). And while I've always enjoyed hosting and entertaining friends and family in my home, transitioning it into a business was the last thing on my mind. I always worried, if I turned what I loved to do into a business, would I love it as much or would start to feel like work? As I begin to document the things I ate and drank and the places I traveled to, I connected with people who inspired me to continue and helped me to focus on finding my own lane in my own time. I'd have these ideas of really cool events to host based off of something I ate or drank or a place I went and I'd think to myself, "This would be really cool if someone put this together, I'd pay for that experience." Then one day it hit me - "Why can't I do it myself?" And the rest was history... The Pour Pairing Rosé Box "Pour Pairings" is a subscription box curated for the wine curious, wine lovers and wine enthusiasts. Our mission is to bring a little fun to wine education and food pairing experimentation by combining unique foods, the latest wine-related gadgets and tools, and other wine adjacent items right to your doorstep. The items in each box will complement the "wine of the month" which could be a simple grape varietal or a style of wine from a particular region. With "Vacays and Vittles", you're going to see a lot of amazing food recommendations, mainly in the Baltimore area but also throughout my travels, interesting cocktails, and beautiful destinations. You're also (should you choose to come) going to experience some really dope and unique events. From donuts and wine pairings to Caribbean fetes to specially curated dinners, there's something for everyone and it will always be a good time. Order! https://www.vacaysandvittles.com/shop --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/therosehourpodcast/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/therosehourpodcast/support
Conor Murphy, frontperson for the band Foxing, joins us this week to chat about his love for Redwall. We love our moms, play the famous game "Griddles or Vittles," and even talk a lil bit about redox chemistry. Check out drawdownthemoon.org for a PUZZLE, (you know, like the ones we keep finding in these books) and the chance to preorder Foxing's new album.You can reach the pod at...Our website: reredwallpod.comEmail: reredwallpod@gmail.comTwitter: @reredwallpodInstagram: @reredwallpodEpisode theme was composed, performed, and recorded by Jordan Petersen Kamp. This episode was edited by Jordan Petersen Kamp. Our logo was designed by Kendra Petersen Kamp, and you can check out her Instagram. Derrick Kamp provided light praise and encouragement for all their efforts.
Allez! Join us as we attempt to master the art (and dairy) of French cooking alongside the wonderful Julia Child, who changed the American home-cooking scene with this book in 1961, firmly establishing herself as one of the most-loved figures in the cookbook world. Find out what we love about her unique style of recipe-writing, which saucy classic Victoria cooked up and which cartoon crush Hannah can't let go of with her choice of dish. We give a shout-out to some foodie emails that we love in this episode - Vittles, Alicia Kennedy and Stained Page News - go forth and subscribe! We'd love to hear if you have this book and what you think of our take on it. Let us know @cookbookcircle on Instagram and Twitter. If we can find the recipes that we cook online, we add them to our website. Check them out here: www.thecookbookcircle.comMusic credits:Intro & Outro: Funky Souls – AmariàInterlude: Riding Lower - OTE See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.
Listen as Raven and Shaad have conversation with Brandon and JUCCI. Giving their perspective on the no grease lease termination, Biden says vaccines by may, VP at nike resigns due to her son's resale business, Does and dont's when buying a car and so much more... --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/thebarlivebarcast/support
It's a military operation most people have never heard of - and its stunning success helped start a new friendship between two former adversaries, the United States and West Germany, and at a critical moment in the Cold War.Let's find out more!
Listen now | Talking to the London-based food writer about list-making, authority, and editing Vittles. This is a public episode. Get access to private episodes at www.aliciakennedy.news/subscribe
America is one of the unhealthiest countries in the world. Many people are adopting a vegan lifestyle to help lead healthier lives. Tune in to hear how Kimberly Vincent went through some health scares and going vegan changed her life. LoRay also shares some staggering statistics that will change your life!