The Sporkful

What Will America’s 250th Birthday Cake Look Like?

In just a few weeks, the United States will mark its 250th birthday, with celebrations all across the country. But when cake artist Grace Pak [https://www.instagram.com/duchessofcameron/?hl=en] started looking into it a few months ago, she realized the festivities were missing something crucial: a birthday cake! Now, she’s been tasked with making it. It’ll take a month to complete and include contributions from dozens of members of Congress. The final cake is supposed to be the size of a car. So how do you make such an ambitious confection? Grace tells Dan all about the process, then lets him try a sample. After that, Dan travels to our nation’s capital to see Rep. Tom Suozzi [https://suozzi.house.gov/] put his own decorative flair on the cake. Plus, we go behind the scenes on two collaborations for the Great Nosh [https://thegreatnosh.com/] summer picnic: a Jewish [https://katzsdelicatessen.com/] taco [https://www.eatsantotaco.com/] and an Indian [https://unapologeticfoods.nyc/] bagel [https://www.moonrisebagels.com/]. The Sporkful production team includes Dan Pashman, Emma Morgenstern, Andres O'Hara, Kameel Stanley, and Jared O'Connell. Right now, Sporkful listeners can get three months free of the SiriusXM app by going to siriusxm.com/sporkful [https://siriusxm.com/sporkful]. Get all your favorite podcasts, more than 200 ad-free music channels curated by genre and era, and live sports coverage with the SiriusXM app. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com [https://pcm.adswizz.com] for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Hasan Minhaj Says Life Is Like Biryani (Reheat)

For comedian and former Daily Show [https://www.cc.com/shows/the-daily-show-with-trevor-noah] correspondent Hasan Minhaj [https://www.instagram.com/hasanminhaj/?hl=en], biryani is more than a delicious food. It's a guide to life: pulling out the good bits and pushing the weird stuff to the side. And when you're a third-culture kid, Hasan says, you pick and choose which parts of the two cultures to make part of your life. This week, we get Hasan's take on how performing stand-up comedy is like eating and his tips for mastering the art of eating with your hands. This episode originally aired on May 22, 2017, and was produced by Dan Pashman, Anne Saini, and Dan Charles. The Sporkful team now includes Dan Pashman, Emma Morgenstern, Andres O'Hara, Kameel Stanley, and Jared O'Connell. This update was produced by Gianna Palmer. Every Friday, we reach into our deep freezer and reheat an episode to serve up to you. We're calling these our Reheats. If you have a show you want reheated, send us an email or voice memo at hello@sporkful.com [hello@sporkful.com], and include your name, your location, which episode, and why. Right now, Sporkful listeners can get three months free of the SiriusXM app by going to siriusxm.com/sporkful [https://siriusxm.com/sporkful]. Get all your favorite podcasts, more than 200 ad-free music channels curated by genre and era, and live sports coverage with the SiriusXM app. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com [https://pcm.adswizz.com] for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

The Table Freda Built At Ebony Magazine

For decades starting in the 1940s, Ebony [https://nmaahc.si.edu/75-years-ebony-magazine] was one of the only magazines created by Black people that spoke directly to Black people. It showed Black Americans falling in love, playing sports, dressing in style, gathering together – and eating. Freda DeKnight was the magazine’s first food editor, publishing recipes that were international and sophisticated, challenging the stereotype that Black American food was limited to soul food. Dan speaks with historian Donna Battle Pierce [https://www.instagram.com/donnabattlepierce/] about Freda’s legacy, then meets Charla Draper, another Ebony food editor, at the Ebony test kitchen. After sitting unused for more than a decade, the kitchen and its original 1970s appliances were restored and transported to New York for an exhibit by the Museum of Food and Drink [https://www.mofad.org/], where Dan saw it. Now it’s part of the National Museum of African American History and Culture’s permanent collection [https://nmaahc.si.edu/object/nmaahc_SC.0086]. This episode originally aired on June 6, 2022, and was produced by Dan Pashman, Emma Morgenstern, Andres O’Hara, Tracey Samuelson, Jared O’Connell, Oluwakemi Aladesuyi, Hali Bey Ramdene, and Alexis Williams. The Sporkful team now includes Dan Pashman, Emma Morgenstern, Andres O'Hara, Kameel Stanley, and Jared O'Connell. Right now, Sporkful listeners can get three months free of the SiriusXM app by going to siriusxm.com/sporkful [http://siriusxm.com/sporkful]. Get all your favorite podcasts, more than 200 ad-free music channels curated by genre and era, and live sports coverage with the SiriusXM app. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com [https://pcm.adswizz.com] for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Rachel Maddow Fixed The Pina Colada (Reheat)

Piña coladas are way better in theory than in practice. Take it from MSNBC host Rachel Maddow. "The tragedy of the piña colada is that it was never wholesome. From the very start the piña colada was built on something horrible, which is Coco Lopez [https://www.cocolopez.com/products]," she says, referring to the canned cream of coconut junk that's long been the stomachache-inducing base of the drink. This week Rachel tells us how she fixed the piña colada with her own special recipe [https://www.sporkful.com/rachel-maddow-fixed-the-pina-colada-reheat]. Plus, Rachel advises us on best practices for cocktail garnishes. The TLDR: Keep your muddy paws out of your drink. This episode originally aired on November 16, 2010, November 21, 2011, and July 24, 2017. It was produced by Dan Pashman, Mark Garrison, Anne Saini, and Dan Charles. The Sporkful team now includes Dan Pashman, Emma Morgenstern, Andres O'Hara, Kameel Stanley, and Jared O'Connell. This update was produced by Gianna Palmer. Every Friday, we reach into our deep freezer and reheat an episode to serve up to you. We're calling these our Reheats. If you have a show you want reheated, send us an email or voice memo at hello@sporkful.com [hello@sporkful.com], and include your name, your location, which episode, and why. Right now, Sporkful listeners can get three months free of the SiriusXM app by going to siriusxm.com/sporkful [https://siriusxm.com/sporkful]. Get all your favorite podcasts, more than 200 ad-free music channels curated by genre and era, and live sports coverage with the SiriusXM app. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com [https://pcm.adswizz.com] for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Why Would Someone Run 31 Miles While Eating Taco Bell?

Last year we got an email from a young woman named Eleanor Sigel that said: “I’m training for the Taco Bell 50k [https://tacobell50k.com/]. With ten Taco Bell stops in thirty miles, it should be a fun run, so I thought I'd invite you to join me.” While Dan had absolutely no interest in running 31 miles, eating that much Taco Bell, or combining the two endeavors into one, we decided to follow Eleanor as she took on the challenge. How do you train for this race? Why would someone sign up for it in the first place? And most importantly: Was Eleanor able to make it to the finish line without puking? The Sporkful production team includes Dan Pashman, Emma Morgenstern, Andres O'Hara, Kameel Stanley, and Jared O'Connell, with reporting help this week from Rae Solomon and editing help from Johanna Mayer. Right now, Sporkful listeners can get three months free of the SiriusXM app by going to siriusxm.com/sporkful [https://siriusxm.com/sporkful]. Get all your favorite podcasts, more than 200 ad-free music channels curated by genre and era, and live sports coverage with the SiriusXM app. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com [https://pcm.adswizz.com] for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.