313: Dan Pashman

Dan Pashman is one of those increasingly rare people who always wanted to be in radio. His career began at the turn of the millennium as a producer and reporter for NPR, Air America, and SiriusXM. But after six layoffs in under a decade—and an industry in steady contraction—Pashman found himself at a crossroads just as podcasting was beginning to emerge.

In 2010, he created The Sporkful, a show he describes as being "for eaters, not foodies." With a young family in front of him and a decade of false starts behind him, Pashman saw the podcast as his last real shot at the career he'd imagined. Long obsessed with food, he finally had a platform to explore something he cared about deeply.

Built on curiosity, humor, and an almost comical level of rigor, The Sporkful began with hyper-specific food debates—ice cubes, grilled cheese, cereal milk—and evolved into a broader exploration of culture, identity, business, and human connection. That evolution reached a turning point when Pashman embarked on a multi-year experiment inventing a new pasta shape, cascatelli, which became an award-winning narrative series and a real product on grocery store shelves.

In this conversation, Pashman talks about creative obsession, building a sustainable podcast business, audio versus video, integrating ads without losing trust, and what he sees as a key to his success: "Never underestimate the power of desperation." It's a candid look at how a modern creative career gets built—one forkful at a time.

www.third-story.com www.leosidran.substack.com www.wbgo.org/podcast/the-third-story