The Sporkful

The host of the Netflix cooking competition show "Nailed It" tells us about her love of raunchy humor, the commonality between comedy spaces and restaurant kitchens, and the time her aunt sent her an Easter dinner in the mail. Today's sponsors: Go to BeyondMeat.com/Sporkful to find a retailer near you. Go to BobsRedMill.com to explore their huge range of products and recipes.

Dan's dreams come true when he visits The Simpsons writers' room to talk about the role food plays on the show, and behind the scenes. Plus, Simpsons creator Matt Groening explains how new technologies have changed the show’s food jokes. Today's sponsors: Go to BeyondMeat.com/Sporkful to find a retailer near you. Go to BobsRedMill.com to explore their huge range of products and recipes.

Why does eating alligator seem more manly than eating chicken? Why does coffee seem more manly than tea? Comedian and actor Michael Ian Black tells us how his sense of masculinity and his body image issues affect what he eats. Plus he and Dan bond over life as suburban dads. Today's sponsors: Go to BeyondMeat.com/Sporkful to find a retailer near you. Go to BobsRedMill.com to explore their huge range of products and recipes. Go to SunBasket.com/Sporkful to get $35 off your first order. Go to...

A former Shea Stadium food vendor tells us about the worst gig in the ballpark. Plus a North Carolina peanut man tells us how they get the salt inside the shell, and Mike Pesca from The Gist tells us how much free advertising Cracker Jack got from being included in "Take Me Out To The Ball Game". Today's sponsors: Go to BobsRedMill.com to explore their huge range of products and recipes. Go to TryFirstLeaf.com/Sporkful to get three bottles of wine for only $15 (plus free shipping). Go to...

A husband irked by his wife's loud chewing noises calls in for advice, and Cooks Illustrated's Dan Souza tells us how science can help get ketchup out of the bottle. Today's sponsors: Go to Store.Benjerry.com to have new Moo-Phoria Light Ice Cream delivered to you. Go to BobsRedMill.com to explore their huge range of products and recipes.

Dan travels through time in search of a coconut cake. Today's sponsors: Go to BobsRedMill.com to explore their huge range of products and recipes. Go to Store.Benjerry.com to have new Moo-Phoria Light Ice Cream delivered to you.

A chef working in the US as an undocumented immigrant cooks to stay connected to her home. But what happens when food isn't enough to bridge the distance? Today's sponsors: Go to BobsRedMill.com to explore their huge range of products and recipes. Go to SunBasket.com/Sporkful to get $35 off your first order. Go to ThirdLove.com/Sporkful to get 15% off your first purchase.

Alan and Arlene Alda have been married for 61 years, and food has been a big part of how they communicate since the night they met. In this week's show, they talk about using food to communicate in their relationship, in geopolitics, and at dinner parties. Plus they give Dan some marriage advice. Today's sponsors: Go to BobsRedMill.com to explore their huge range of products and recipes. Go to FirstLeaf.com/Sporkful to get three bottles of wine for $15 (plus free shipping). Go to...

Famed football announcer Howard Cosell played an unlikely role in popularizing nachos, as we learn this week when Dan sits down with his old friend Mike Pesca, host of The Gist podcast at Slate. And Mike rants about restaurant practices that drive him nuts -- like when servers don't write down your order. Today's sponsors: Go to BenJerry.com to have Moo-Phoria Light Ice Cream delivered to you. Go to BeyondMeat.com/Sporkful to find a retailer near you. Go to BobsRedMill.com to explore...

"I love pizza, but I really don't think I'm insane," says Scott Wiener of Scott's Pizza Tours, who limits his consumption to 15 slices per week, and has a Guinness World Record holding collection of 1,400 pizza boxes. Today's sponsors: Go to BeyondMeat.com/Sporkful to find a retailer near you. Go to BobsRedMill.com to explore their huge range of products and recipes. Go to UndeniablyDairy.org to learn more about the people who bring dairy to your table.

Ever waited in a crazy long line for some famous barbecue or donuts? Was it worth it? This week we visit a legendary pizzeria with a famous queue -- and talk with scientists -- to find out when a long wait makes your food taste better and when it makes it taste worse. Today's sponsors: BeyondMeat.com/SporkfulBobsRedMill.comUndeniablyDairy.orgSunBasket.com/Sporkful

Two friends disagree about whether it's OK to keep shopping after getting in the check-out line, and cookbook author Nicole Taylor tells us about some unsolicited advice she got about navigating the food world as a black woman. Today's sponsors: Go to BeyondMeat.com/Sporkful to find a retailer near you. Go to BobsRedMill.com to explore their huge range of products and recipes. Go to UndeniablyDairy.org to learn more about the people who bring dairy to your table. Go to...

The cookbook author and food TV star talks about the condiment she keeps in her purse, how cooking helps her cope with depression, and how she uses method acting to decide what to order in restaurants. Today's sponsors: Go to BobsRedMill.com to explore their huge range of products and recipes. Go to ChefSteps.com/Joule and get $15 off a Joule Sous Vide, using the promo code SPORKFUL (case sensitive). Go to MarthaStewartWine.com and use offer code SPORKFUL to get 20% off your first...

Professor Steven Alvarez teaches a college course called Taco Literacy, which explores Mexican history and culture through food. When he and his students take us on their end-of-semester taco crawl, we learn that every taco tells a story -- you just have to know how to read them. Today's sponsors: Go to BobsRedMill.com to explore their huge range of products and recipes. Go to ChefSteps.com/Joule and get $15 off a Joule Sous Vide, using the promo code SPORKFUL (case sensitive).

The two comics are old friends, but how well do they really know each other's eating quirks? Plus, Kamau gives us an update on the racist incident he told us about last time he was on the show, and Dan reveals what comedians have taught him about food. Today's sponsors: Go to BenJerry.com to find out where you can get Ben & Jerry's Pint Slices. Go to BobsRedMill.com to explore their huge range of products and recipes. Go to SunBasket.com/Sporkful to get $35 off your first order.

When comedian Hari Kondabolu isn't delivering incisive jokes about politics and identity, he's dreaming of being locked inside a magical bakery. Plus, Hari tells us why you shouldn't ask him about Indian food, and shares his take on whether famous Simpsons food scenes with Apu are racist or not. Today's sponsors: Go to AmazonMusic.com to start your free 30-day trial. Go to BobsRedMill.com to explore their huge range of products and recipes. Go to ControlGX.com to get 25% off, using promo...

After months of searching, we finally meet Ted Ngoy, aka "the Donut King", and learn what happened to him. He's returned to the Cambodian community seeking redemption. But will he find it? Today's sponsors: Go to BobsRedMill.com to explore their huge range of products and recipes. Go to MrClean.com/Sporkful to learn how the Magic Eraser can help you clean up around the house. Go to SpiceIslands.com/Sporkful for spice facts and recipes. Go to ThirdLove.com/Sporkful to get 15% off your...

After escaping Cambodia's "Killing Fields," Ted Ngoy built a donut empire in California. Then he lost it all, and disappeared. This week we're searching for The Donut King -- and his legacy. Today's sponsors: Go to AmazonMusic.com to start your free 30-day trial. Go to BobsRedMill.com to explore their huge range of products and recipes. Go to MrClean.com/Sporkful to learn how the Magic Eraser can help you clean up around the house. Go to SpiceIslands.com/Sporkful for spice facts and recipes.

Gustavo Alvarez didn't learn to cook until he went to prison. Sharing food there was a good way to win friends and find comfort in a rough place. But, for Gustavo, cooking also proved to be the ultimate survival skill. Today's sponsors: Go to BobsRedMill.com to explore their huge range of products and recipes. Go to MrClean.com/Sporkful to learn how the Magic Eraser can help you clean up around the house. Go to SunBasket.com/Sporkful to get $35 off your first order.

A couple calls in for advice about food tensions in their intercultural relationship, and New Yorker food writer Helen Rosner tells us why all relationships are "inter-everything." Plus, an atheist listener struggles with his religious family's insistence on saying grace before meals. Today's sponsors: Go to AmazonMusic.com to start your free 30-day trial. Go to BobsRedMill.com to explore their huge range of products and recipes. Go to MrClean.com/Sporkful to learn how the Magic Eraser...