

Smart Mouth
Katherine Spiers / TableCakes Productions
An addictively illuminating, often hilarious, conversational podcast about the surprising histories
behind the foods we love.
Hosted by independent journalist and food anthropologist, Katherine Spiers (LA Times, LA Weekly, KCET, Eater, How to Eat L.A.). Guests include Anthony Bourdain, Georgia Hardstark, Jacques Pepin, Llewellyn Clarke, Sarah Kuhn, Claudette Zepeda, Jon Garbus, Danny Trejo, Flula Borg and many other compelling people who eat food!
behind the foods we love.
Hosted by independent journalist and food anthropologist, Katherine Spiers (LA Times, LA Weekly, KCET, Eater, How to Eat L.A.). Guests include Anthony Bourdain, Georgia Hardstark, Jacques Pepin, Llewellyn Clarke, Sarah Kuhn, Claudette Zepeda, Jon Garbus, Danny Trejo, Flula Borg and many other compelling people who eat food!
Episodes
Mentioned books

Mar 30, 2022 • 44min
History of Criticism with Soleil Ho
“There are a lot of hypebeasts running around, for sure.” Listen to Smart Mouth: iTunes • Google Podcasts • Stitcher • Spotify • RadioPublic • TuneIn • Libsyn Check out all our episodes so far here. If you like, pledge a buck or two on Patreon. Smart Mouth newsletter Smart Mouth IG Extra Spicy Soleil IG Useful Smart Mouth merch! Use code shipshiphooray! for free shipping. Music: Jonathan Richman - Velvet Underground Sources: Washington Post Seattle Times LA Times Columbia Journalism Review

Mar 16, 2022 • 36min
Hanky Pankies with Adrienne Cheatham
“I was raised in a non-smoking section.” Listen to Smart Mouth: iTunes • Google Podcasts • Stitcher • Spotify • RadioPublic • TuneIn • Libsyn Check out all our episodes so far here. If you like, pledge a buck or two on Patreon. Smart Mouth newsletter Smart Mouth IG Sunday Best Adrienne IG Useful Smart Mouth merch! Use code shipshiphooray! for free shipping. Music: Tommy James & The Shondells - Hanky Panky Sources: Cincinnati Enquirer Cook's Info, 2 Atlas Obscura Calas in New Orleans We Will Shoot Back Check out: Gayest Episode Ever

Mar 2, 2022 • 38min
Regarding Reviews with Dale Talde
“You don’t like my vaccine policy. OK, go fuck yourself.” How chef and TV star Dale Talde changed his restaurant’s pay structure (I hadn’t heard of this before) and why he doesn’t do take-out. And who goes out for lunch on Valentine’s Day. Listen to Smart Mouth: iTunes • Google Podcasts • Stitcher • Spotify • RadioPublic • TuneIn • Libsyn Check out all our episodes so far here. If you like, pledge a buck or two on Patreon. Smart Mouth newsletter Smart Mouth IG Useful Smart Mouth merch! Use code shipshiphooray! for free shipping. Music: La Roux - Bulletproof Check out: Gayest Episode Ever

Feb 16, 2022 • 31min
Nora Ephron's 'Critics in the World of the Rising Souffle (Or is it the Rising Meringue?)'
Trying something new: I loved this catty essay so much I just read it to you. Find the original essay here. "Wallflower at the Orgy," where it also appeared, is here. Listen to Smart Mouth: iTunes • Google Podcasts • Stitcher • Spotify • RadioPublic • TuneIn • Libsyn Check out all our episodes so far here. If you like, pledge a buck or two on Patreon. Smart Mouth newsletter Smart Mouth IG Useful Smart Mouth merch! Use code shipshiphooray! for free shipping. Music: Paul Mauriat - Love Is Blue Check out: Gayest Episode Ever

Feb 2, 2022 • 46min
Running a Restaurant Now, & Korean History, with Ji Hye Kim
Ji Hye Kim on why her Korean restaurant has banh mi on the menu, the very short history of chilis in Korean cuisine, and the common thread linking restaurant work and hospital work. Miss Kim Instagram Listen to Smart Mouth: iTunes • Google Podcasts • Stitcher • Spotify • RadioPublic • TuneIn • Libsyn Check out all our episodes so far here. If you like, pledge a buck or two on Patreon. Smart Mouth newsletter Smart Mouth IG Useful Smart Mouth merch! Use code shipshiphooray! for free shipping. Music: BTS - Dynamite Check out: Gayest Episode Ever

Jan 19, 2022 • 36min
Acadia: History & Food
Had you heard of the Acadians before? Listen to Smart Mouth: iTunes • Google Podcasts • Stitcher • Spotify • RadioPublic • TuneIn • Libsyn Check out all our episodes so far here. If you like, pledge a buck or two on Patreon. Smart Mouth newsletter Smart Mouth IG Useful Smart Mouth merch! Use code shipshiphooray! for free shipping. Sources: Simon Thibault Lenore Newman Acadian Museum of the University of Moncton Acadian Identity: The Creation and Re-Creation of Community (PDF) The Acadian Kitchen: Recipes from Then and Now The Perils and Possibilities of Wartime Neutrality on the Edges of Empire: Iroquois and Acadians between the French and British in North America, 1744–1760 A Century of Acadian Culture Canadian Geographic Music: Angèle Arsenault - Évangeline Acadian Queen Check out: Gayest Episode Ever

Jan 5, 2022 • 9min
Thomas Downing & Oyster History
He revolutionized the oyster bar - but his other, secret, work was more important. Listen to Smart Mouth: iTunes • Google Podcasts • Stitcher • Spotify • RadioPublic • TuneIn • Libsyn Check out all our episodes so far here. If you like, pledge a buck or two on Patreon. Smart Mouth newsletter Smart Mouth IG Useful Smart Mouth merch! Use code shipshiphooray! for free shipping. Related episode: Diversity in Native American Food with Loretta Barrett Oden Sources: Debra Freeman, Southern Grit Smart Mouth Splendid Table The Virginian-Pilot The Old Salt Blog The Black Gotham Digital Archive Union Oyster House Restauranting Through History Oxford Companion to Food American Heritage New York Times The Gotham Center for New York History Foodtimeline.org America's Founding Food: The Story of New England Cooking History of Food Music: Hard Times Come Again No More, Stephen Foster Check out: Gayest Episode Ever

Dec 29, 2021 • 11min
Apples & the Downfall of the Red Delicious
Even the farmers say the Red Delicious is a bad fruit. Listen to Smart Mouth: iTunes • Google Podcasts • Stitcher • Spotify • RadioPublic • TuneIn • Libsyn Check out all our episodes so far here. If you like, pledge a buck or two on Patreon. Smart Mouth newsletter Smart Mouth IG Useful Smart Mouth merch! Use code shipshiphooray! for free shipping. Sources: Purdue University (PDF) Washington Post The Atlantic New York Times Etymology Online Apples of North America Guide to Cultivated Plants Music: New Riders of the Purple Sage, Garden of Eden Check out: Gayest Episode Ever

Dec 22, 2021 • 14min
Coquito and Canned Goods
First of all, this is not Puerto Rican egg nog. Secondly, it's made mostly with canned goods, which speaks to how Puerto Rico adapted to being a U.S. territory. Did you know that "Wars Are Fought With Food"? Listen to Smart Mouth: iTunes • Google Podcasts • Stitcher • Spotify • RadioPublic • TuneIn • Libsyn Check out all our episodes so far here. If you like, pledge a buck or two on Patreon. Smart Mouth newsletter Smart Mouth IG Useful Smart Mouth merch! Use code shipshiphooray! for free shipping. Related episodes: Egg Nog with Drew Mackie Spam with Helen Hong Sources: Twitter thread cookingcuban.com Punch magazine Britannica Meryenda NPR BBC CommunityScience.com Taste Eater Feeding the colonial subject: Nutrition and public health in Puerto Rico Agricultural decline and food import dependency in Puerto Rico: A historical perspective on the outcomes of postwar farm and food policies Puerto Rico: The trials of the oldest colony in the world Eating Puerto Rico: A history of food, culture, and identity Factories and food stamps: The Puerto Rican model of development Music: Roy Brown Ramirez , Boricua en la Luna Check out: Gayest Episode Ever

Dec 15, 2021 • 19min
Why Are U.S. School Lunches Like This?
School-provided lunches have existed in the US for about 130 years, if you count the early days when private welfare groups handled the gig. School lunches have never been paused since they started, but the impetus for providing them has varied widely. (And they're the reason "white people food is bland" is such a compelling concept.) Listen to Smart Mouth: iTunes • Google Podcasts • Stitcher • Spotify • RadioPublic • TuneIn • Libsyn Check out all our episodes so far here. If you like, pledge a buck or two on Patreon. Smart Mouth newsletter Smart Mouth IG Useful Smart Mouth merch! Use code shipshiphooray! for free shipping. Sources: Foodtimeline.org New York Times Pacific Standard magazine National Education Association US Government Accountability Office (PDF) School Lunch Politics: The Surprising History of America's Favorite Welfare Program 97 Orchard: An Edible History of Five Immigrant Families in One New York Tenement Revolution at the Table: The Transformation of the American Diet Feeding the Family The American and His Food Paradox of Plenty: A Social History of Eating in America Related Episodes/Articles: Breadlines and Famines with Jeremy Bowditch The Settlement Cook Book Prison Food with Danny Trejo Music: Dead Kennedys - A Growing Boy Needs His Lunch Check out: Gayest Episode Ever