Explore every episode of the podcast Your Last Meal with Rachel Belle

This week on "The Leftovers," never-before-heard audio from Bridget Lancaster & Julia Collin Davison, hosts of America's Test Kitchen, the most-watched show on public television! 

In this episode, Julia & Bridget:

• Learn that they share the same favorite birthday cake!
• Share their favorite food films & food-themed children's books!
• Talk about the best gifts they've received from each other over the past 30 years.

• Become a Cascade PBS member and support public media!   
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• Order Rachel’s cookbook Open Sesame. 

Julia Collin Davison & Bridget Lancaster co-host the most-watched cooking show on public television – "America’s Test Kitchen!" The brand also publishes magazines and cookbooks, like their brand new baking book, "The New Cookie: Creative Takes on the Classics You Love." 

Julia & Bridget chat with host Rachel Belle about:

• How many times they test each recipe (so many times!) and how much it costs to produce a single recipe (it's so much!).
• How they met their chef husbands (we love a good meet-cute!).
• Which food related words give them the ick.
• How many different varieties of butter they have in their refrigerators. 

Then we’ll head to Waco, Texas to visit the Dr Pepper Museum. What are the 23 flavors that make up Dr Pepper? How did it get its name? Why were sodas invented in pharmacies? Listen and find out! 

• Get tickets to Food Fight on November 10th, 2026!
• Become a Cascade PBS member and support public media!   
• Watch Rachel’s Cascade PBS TV show The Nosh with Rachel Belle. 
• Sign up for Rachel’s (free!) biweekly Cascade PBS newsletter for more food musings. 
• Follow along on Instagram. 
• Order Rachel’s cookbook Open Sesame. 

This week on "The Leftovers," never-before-heard audio from actor and comedian Ilana Glazer!

Ilana tells me:

• How grocery shopping has changed since she stopped smoking weed before she goes!
• But also...her favorite stoner snacks...
• Her feelings about infomercial king Ron Popeil! 
• What makes her grandma's matzo ball soup so special.

• Get tickets to Food Fight on November 10th, 2026!
• Become a Cascade PBS member and support public media!   
• Watch Rachel’s Cascade PBS TV show The Nosh with Rachel Belle. 
• Sign up for Rachel’s (free!) biweekly Cascade PBS newsletter for more food musings. 
• Follow along on Instagram. 
• Order Rachel’s cookbook Open Sesame. 

Ilana Glazer co-created and starred in one of Rachel Belle's favorite TV shows of all time: the hilarious "Broad City!" She's an Emmy and Tony Award winning actor, producer, activist and comedian & she's on tour right now -- get tickets to see Ilana's standup show!

Ilana and Rachel talk about:

• The only food that's okay to eat while you're naked
• How Ilana blew her paychecks from her first job on Kielbasa
• The power of breastfeeding at brunch
• All of the delightful things she ate while touring her standup show around Europe over the summer
• Her love of the Gilda, a classic, pickly, one-bite Basque pintxo

Then food journalist and chef Marti Buckley joins the show from San Sebastián, Spain to talk about Gildas: What they are! Their history! And why they're named after a glamorous Hollywood starlet from the 1940s. 

GET TICKETS TO RACHEL BELLE'S LIVE FOOD FIGHT SHOW! The evening of Tuesday, November 10th, 2026 at the Cornish Playhouse at Seattle Center. 

• Become a Cascade PBS member and support public media!   
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• Order Rachel’s cookbook Open Sesame. 

This week on "The Leftovers," never-before-heard audio from Alexis Nikole Nelson, known to her nine million followers as Black Forager. Alexis' brand new, debut cookbook is called "Happy Snacking, Don't Die!"

Alexis tells me:

• Which foraged food her partner hated when they met, that he can't get enough of now.
• Her dream foraging destination and what she'd like to discover there. 
• Which recipe from her cookbook she'd choose to have chiseled onto her gravestone someday. 

• Become a Cascade PBS member and support public media!   
• Watch Rachel’s Cascade PBS TV show The Nosh with Rachel Belle. 
• Sign up for Rachel’s (free!) biweekly Cascade PBS newsletter for more food musings. 
• Follow along on Instagram. 
• Order Rachel’s cookbook Open Sesame. 

More than nine million people have their eyes glued to Alexis Nikole Nelson’s BlackForager videos, to watch her frolic through forests, fields, urban neighborhoods & her own backyard, foraging and cooking plants, flowers and funghi with exuberance, joy, silliness and humor. Her brand-new, debut cookbook Happy Snacking Don’t Die! is out now!  

Alexis tells me: 

• Why there are so few Black foragers in America today & the importance of naming her social accounts BlackForager. 
• The most magical recipe in her cookbook (actual science magic – she can turn your lemonade hot pink using plants!)  
• What it was like testing, photographing and writing recipes for a cookbook when your star ingredients are highly seasonal and not available in grocery stores!  
• And much more! 

Then we’ll learn the history of the Pop Tart from junk food journalist, Carolyn Wyman. 

• Become a Cascade PBS member and support public media!  
• Watch Rachel’s Cascade PBS TV show The Nosh with Rachel Belle.   
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• Follow along on Instagram.   
• Order Rachel’s cookbook Open Sesame. 

If there is a new TV show or movie, D'Arcy Carden is probably in it! She stars in the new show The Five-Star Weekend and many others like Barry, The Handmaid’s Tale, A League of Their Own, Broad City and the show that kicked off her career, her first big role, playing Janet on The Good Place. 

But Rachel has known D’Arcy since college, so they do a little walk down memory lane! D’Arcy shares some behind-the-scenes tidbits on how food props worked on The Good Place and they bond over a shared love for a Bay Area ice cream shop from childhood.  

Rachel talks to Alan Finkelstein, who has worked at McDonald’s since 1971, about the history of their famous fries. And, things get real sweet with Lauren Wilson, owner of Sweet Lo's Ice Cream, who gives us the scoop on Rocky Road. 

• Become a Cascade PBS member and support public media! 
• Watch Rachel’s Cascade PBS TV show The Nosh with Rachel Belle.  
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• Order Rachel’s cookbook Open Sesame. 

This week on "The Leftovers," never-before-heard audio from bestselling, award-winning humor writer David Sedaris, to celebrate his new book of essays, "The Land and Its People." 

David tells me:

• What snacks he stops for on his daily 10+ mile walks
• About the incredible, homemade dessert his husband makes for his birthday
• The type of person he loves to share a meal with
• Where to find the best doughnut in New York City

• Become a Cascade PBS member and support public media!   
• Watch Rachel’s Cascade PBS TV show The Nosh with Rachel Belle. 
• Sign up for Rachel’s (free!) biweekly Cascade PBS newsletter for more food musings. 
• Follow along on Instagram. 
• Order Rachel’s cookbook Open Sesame. 

Bestselling author David Sedaris has been writing our favorite funny books for more than 30 years, and his newest book of essays is called "The Land and Its People."  

David tells me:

• Why he never orders room service, even though he stays at hotels all the time
• How his childhood dinner table helped him become a better storyteller 
• How many boxes of Jello he eats every day (!!)
• His husband can recreate any meal, even one of David's favorite childhood dishes, despite never having tried it himself! 
• And more!

Then I chat with Sarah Masoni at the Food Innovation Center in Portland, Oregon, who The New York Times has called "The Million Dollar Palate." Sarah can pick out every single ingredient in a dish she tastes, and uses her skills to help some of the country's most popular brands formulate tasty products. 

• Become a Cascade PBS member and support public media!
• Watch Rachel’s Cascade PBS TV show The Nosh with Rachel Belle.
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• Follow along on Instagram.
• Order Rachel’s cookbook Open Sesame. 

This week on The Leftovers, never-before-heard audio from 4x Grammy-nominated artist Grace Potter!

Grace talks about:

• Her disdain for wet foods and her high tolerance for dry ones!
• Her favorite diner foods, as a touring musician who stops at a lot of them!
• What she prefers to eat instead of sweets!
• Her deep love for Gilligan's Island!
• And more!

• Become a Cascade PBS member and support public media!   
• Watch Rachel’s Cascade PBS TV show The Nosh with Rachel Belle. 
• Sign up for Rachel’s (free!) biweekly Cascade PBS newsletter for more food musings. 
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• Order Rachel’s cookbook Open Sesame. 

Grammy-nominated singer, songwriter and musician Grace Potter grew up in a tiny Vermont mountain town with hippie artist parents who encouraged her and her siblings to live highly creative lives! 

Grace tells me about:

• The most ambitious cooking she's done on a tour bus
• The food that is currently banned from the tour bus!
• The meal that turned her chips & dip loving son into a restaurant appreciator at age seven
• The story behind her childhood kitchen table 
•  Her favorite road trip snack
• And lots more!

Then we meet a British chef who cooks intricate meals in hotel rooms using the tools it comes with: an iron, hair dryer and electric kettle! 

Grace Potter's new album is called Trespasser. 

• Become a Cascade PBS member and support public media!
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• Order Rachel’s cookbook Open Sesame. 

This week on The Leftovers, never-before-heard audio from award-winning singer-songwriter Lukas Nelson!

Lukas talks about:

• The unusual way he got over his fear of flying.
• His favorite restaurants in Maui and Austin, Texas -- the two places he splits his time. 

• Become a Cascade PBS member and support public media!   
• Watch Rachel’s Cascade PBS TV show The Nosh with Rachel Belle. 
• Sign up for Rachel’s (free!) biweekly Cascade PBS newsletter for more food musings. 
• Follow along on Instagram. 
• Order Rachel’s cookbook Open Sesame. 

Grammy-winning singer-songwriter Lukas Nelson descends from country music royalty: his dad is Willie Nelson! Lukas' new record is called American Romance.

Lukas tells host Rachel Belle about:

• Growing up on a tour bus, crisscrossing the country with his family.
• His love for Americana diners, as someone who is on the road touring up to 250 days a year.
• How he likes his eggs cooked, and how challenging it can be to get them right.
• Regenerative farming in Austin, Texas and deer hunting on Maui.
• And so much more!

Then Rachel chats with America's most-published diner expert about how the buildings got their iconic architectural style, the oldest remaining diner in America and more. 

• Become a Cascade PBS member and support public media!
• Watch Rachel’s Cascade PBS TV show The Nosh with Rachel Belle.
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• Follow along on Instagram.
• Order Rachel’s cookbook Open Sesame. 

This week on The Leftovers, never-before-heard audio from award-winning singer-songwriter, and Lilith Fair founder, Sarah McLachlan!

Sarah talks about:

• Why she wouldn't put on another, modern day Lilith Fair
• Her favorite farmer's market
• Her favorite ice cream flavor, as someone with a hit song called "Ice Cream"
• And more!

• Become a Cascade PBS member and support public media!   
• Watch Rachel’s Cascade PBS TV show The Nosh with Rachel Belle. 
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• Follow along on Instagram. 
• Order Rachel’s cookbook Open Sesame. 

She created Lilith Fair! She's sold more than 40 million albums! She's a 90s music icon, but her new album “Better Broken” just won Adult Contemporary Album of the Year at the JUNO Awards (Canada's version of the Grammy’s)!

Sarah McLachlan tells me:

• About the cookbook she wrote in the 90s, and what recipes she still makes today!
• The story behind her Writer's Block Oatmeal Raisin Cookies!
• Which food her daughters say she made way too much when they were kids!
• How many times a year she eats a Thanksgiving dinner!
• About the homemade "pig's breakfast" Green Goddess dressing she always keeps in her fridge!

Between its healthy green, herbaceous glow and its hippie dippie sounding name, Green Goddess dressing gives off big 1970s health food store vibes. But it was actually invented in 1923 at the Palace Hotel in San Francisco! You'll learn the dressing's star-studded history & the controversy surrounding its name.

• Become a Cascade PBS member and support public media!   
• Watch Rachel’s Cascade PBS TV show The Nosh with Rachel Belle. 
• Sign up for Rachel’s (free!) biweekly Cascade PBS newsletter for more food musings. 
• Follow along on Instagram. 
• Order Rachel’s cookbook Open Sesame. 

This week on The Leftovers, never-before-heard audio from Hannah Dasher, country music star and author of the new cookbook, Stand By Your Pan!

Hannah talks about:

• Why sooo many country singers have written cookbooks!
• Chocolate gravy - it's a thing!
• Why she has 9 recipes that start with "Getcho man" in her cookbook.
• The difference between food in Georgia (where she grew up) and food in Nashville (where she lives now).

• Become a Cascade PBS member and support public media!   
• Watch Rachel’s Cascade PBS TV show The Nosh with Rachel Belle. 
• Sign up for Rachel’s (free!) biweekly Cascade PBS newsletter for more food musings. 
• Follow along on Instagram. 
• Order Rachel’s cookbook Open Sesame. 

Hannah Dasher is a country music star and author of the new cookbook Stand By Your Pan, named after her super popular cooking videos enjoyed by her millions of TikTok and Instagram followers. 

Hannah’s house in Nashville is a 1970s time capsule and her kitchen is an avocado green dream, stocked with nostalgic, vintage cookware, including the Tupperware so many of our moms bought at parties. 

It's Tupperware's 80th birthday, and the iconic plastic bowls, not to mention the Tupperware parties, found their place in the American Zeitgeist thanks to a woman named Brownie Wise. Never heard of her? Most haven't. We’ll tell you how she rose to Oprah-level fame in the 1940s and was erased from the history books in a span of a couple years. Plus, the company's fascinating, post-war origin story. 

Hannah and host Rachel Belle also talk about:

• The most bizarre food items Hannah has found wrapped in a napkin in her purse
• Why she included Naomi Judd's Possum Pie in her cookbook
• What foods she insists on making from scratch and which she doesn't mind getting from a box or a can.
• And so much more!

Catch Hannah on tour!

To celebrate the big anniversary, Tupperware re-released its Servalier bowls, the ones with the sunburst lids, in the classic 1970s colors, check em out! 

• Become a Cascade PBS member and support public media!   
• Watch Rachel’s Cascade PBS TV show The Nosh with Rachel Belle. 
• Sign up for Rachel’s (free!) biweekly Cascade PBS newsletter for more food musings. 
• Follow along on Instagram. 
• Order Rachel’s cookbook Open Sesame. 

This week on The Leftovers, never-before-heard audio from filmmaker, writer and actor Jay Duplass!

Jay shares:

• Where he buys his favorite birthday cake -- he's been getting the exact same one since childhood!
• The two movies he's seen the most, that he can watch over and over again.
• The coolest movie theater in the world!

• Become a Cascade PBS member and support public media!   
• Watch Rachel’s Cascade PBS TV show The Nosh with Rachel Belle. 
• Sign up for Rachel’s (free!) biweekly Cascade PBS newsletter for more food musings. 
• Follow along on Instagram. 
• Order Rachel’s cookbook Open Sesame. 

Director, producer, writer and filmmaker Jay Duplass is from New Orleans, therefore he sprinkles Tony Chachere’s seasoning on everything, from lasagna to his "white guy huevos rancheros."

Jay tells me:

• What foods he gave out to hungry hikers when he was a trail angel on the Pacific Crest Trail
• The best condiment packets to steal from gas stations
• The worst healthy, hippie food his parents served him growing up
• What he ate when he was a struggling filmmaker in Austin, Texas

And I chat with Barry and Sandy Mann, who are perhaps the most famous PCT trail angels -- they've welcomed more than 8,000 thru-hikers into their home! 

• Become a Cascade PBS member and support public media!   
• Watch Rachel’s Cascade PBS TV show The Nosh with Rachel Belle. 
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• Follow along on Instagram. 
• Order Rachel’s cookbook Open Sesame. 

This week on The Leftovers, never-before-heard audio from Oscar, Grammy and Juno award-winning singer-songwriter Melissa Etheridge!

Melissa shares:

• What it was like writing her new album, "Rise," after the death of her son.
• Her favorite, indulgent dessert in L.A.
• How she ended up marrying her best friend
• and more!

• Become a Cascade PBS member and support public media!   
• Watch Rachel’s Cascade PBS TV show The Nosh with Rachel Belle. 
• Sign up for Rachel’s (free!) biweekly Cascade PBS newsletter for more food musings. 
• Follow along on Instagram. 
• Order Rachel’s cookbook Open Sesame. 

Oscar, Grammy and Juno award-winning artist, Melissa Etheridge, started playing with an adult band when she was just 12 years old and this year she released her 17th album, "Rise."

Melissa tells host Rachel Belle:

• Her favorite stoner snacks (And which celebrity she'd like to smoke pot with!)
• About her mom's "angry dinners" growing up in Kansas
• Her tradition of eating at women-owned restaurants when she's on the road with her wife, Linda
• How she met her best friends, the owners of Cathy's Kitchen in Ferguson, Missouri

Then Cathy and Jerome Jenkins, owners of Cathy's Kitchen, join the show to tell us more about Melissa's last meal and the unconventional road they took to becoming restaurant owners. 

• Become a Cascade PBS member and support public media!   
• Watch Rachel’s Cascade PBS TV show The Nosh with Rachel Belle. 
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• Order Rachel’s cookbook Open Sesame. 

This week on The Leftovers, never-before-heard audio from John Cameron Mitchell,  writer, director and star of Hedwig and the Angry Inch; the cult film is celebrating its 25th anniversary this year!

John shares:

• His favorite UK candies 
• His skincare routine -- he has amazing skin!
• and more!

Listen to the full episode of Your Last Meal with John Cameron Mitchell here.

• Become a Cascade PBS member and support public media!   
• Watch Rachel’s Cascade PBS TV show The Nosh with Rachel Belle. 
• Sign up for Rachel’s (free!) biweekly Cascade PBS newsletter for more food musings. 
• Follow along on Instagram. 
• Order Rachel’s cookbook Open Sesame. 

It’s the 25th anniversary of Hedwig and the Angry Inch, one of host Rachel Belle’s Top 5 Favorite Films of All Time! Today we get to hear from the man who wrote, directed and starred in the film, and played Hedwig on Broadway, John Cameron Mitchell! You may also know John from his roles in Shrill and Girls.  

John talks about his fraught relationship with food as a youth, digestive issues that completely vanished after he came out as gay and moved to New York City. He tells Rachel who the Hedwig character was based on, and which parts of the story come from his own life. He shares a bonkers story about a man who cooked and served...his own genitals at a dinner party. And he talks about what he ate to stay strong and energetic during his recent 12-week Broadway run, performing eight shows a week as Mary Todd Lincoln in Oh Mary!  

Then we learn a bit about the history of omakase, which was popularized in the U.S. by a Netflix documentary that came out in 2012.  

To celebrate 25 years, John Cameron Mitchell is touring the country, June through November, doing Q&As after film screenings of Hedwig and the Angry Inch. Tickets are going fast, buy yours here. 

This week on The Leftovers, never-before-heard audio from Hrisihikesh Hirway, musician and prolific podcast host and producer!

Hrisihi shares:

• His favorite places to get delicious, vegan fast food
• The show he watches when he wants comfort & what he likes to eat while he watches it
• and more!

Listen to the full episode of Your Last Meal with Hrisihikesh Hirway here.

• Become a Cascade PBS member and support public media!   
• Watch Rachel’s Cascade PBS TV show The Nosh with Rachel Belle. 
• Sign up for Rachel’s (free!) biweekly Cascade PBS newsletter for more food musings. 
• Follow along on Instagram. 
• Order Rachel’s cookbook Open Sesame. 

Your ears are in for a treat -- this week they'll be graced by the velveteen voice of Hrishikesh Hirway! Hrishikesh is a prolific podcaster & he hosts and produces many, including my favorite food podcast of all time, Home Cooking, co-hosted by past Your Last Meal guest, Samin Nosrat, and the excellent music podcast, Song Exploder, that was turned into a Netflix show. He's also a musician and his new album is out now!

Hrishikesh tells host Rachel Belle:

•  How his lifelong cookie obsession began
• About his mom's mango pie, which has been featured in the New York Times and turned into a Salt & Straw ice cream flavor
• Why he started drinking coffee, for the first time, in his mid-40s

Then we're joined by Jim Henson Company "puppet wrangler" Lara MacLean, who took it upon herself to start baking the cookies that Cookie Monster demolishes on Sesame Street, because she wasn't happy with the last iteration! 

• Become a Cascade PBS member and support public media!   
• Watch Rachel’s Cascade PBS TV show The Nosh with Rachel Belle. 
• Sign up for Rachel’s (free!) biweekly Cascade PBS newsletter for more food musings. 
• Follow along on Instagram. 
• Order Rachel’s cookbook Open Sesame. 

This week on The Leftovers, never-before-heard audio from Eve Plumb, the actor who played Jan Brady on The Brady Bunch!

After spending most of her life in southern California, Eve moved to New York City and in this week's lightning round, she talks about the food she misses most from her home state. 

Listen to the full episode of Your Last Meal with Eve Plumb here.

• Become a Cascade PBS member and support public media!   
• Watch Rachel’s Cascade PBS TV show The Nosh with Rachel Belle. 
• Sign up for Rachel’s (free!) biweekly Cascade PBS newsletter for more food musings. 
• Follow along on Instagram. 
• Order Rachel’s cookbook Open Sesame. 

Eve Plumb was 10 years old when she landed the role of Jan Brady, the middle daughter on The Brady Bunch, and now she's sharing what was going on behind-the-scenes in her new memoir, Happiness Included: Jan Brady and Beyond.

The night Eve got the part, in 1969, her parents took her out for a celebratory dinner at Martoni’s, a martini-soaked, Italian-American Hollywood hot spot popular with folks in the music industry. Los Angeles culinary historian Katherine Spiers spills the tea on all the juicy Martoni’s celebrity gossip and tells host Rachel Belle which unsuspecting dish was all the rage in 1960s L.A. 

Eve connects the dots between her favorite fast food order and her last meal and talks about which The Brady Bunch cast member she still has monthly drinks with! 

• Become a Cascade PBS member and support public media!    
• Watch Rachel’s Cascade PBS TV show The Nosh with Rachel Belle.  
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• Follow along on Instagram.  
• Order Rachel’s cookbook Open Sesame. 

This week on The Leftovers, never-before-heard audio from Dawn Richard, singer; animator and Adult Swim creative consultant and owner of Papa Ted’s vegan food truck in New Orleans.   

In a lightning round, Dawn talks about graduating from college at the same time as her dad and her grandma, which food celebrity she admires most and how she finds a way to "New Orleansify" everything she cooks!  

Listen to the full episode of Your Last Meal with Dawn Richard here.

Become a Cascade PBS member and support public media!   

Watch Rachel’s Cascade PBS TV show The Nosh with Rachel Belle. 

Sign up for Rachel’s (free!) biweekly Cascade PBS newsletter for more food musings. 

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Order Rachel’s cookbook Open Sesame. 

Dawn Richard is a proud New Orleans native and a true Renaissance Woman: singer; animator and Adult Swim creative consultant and owner of Papa Ted’s vegan food truck in New Orleans.  

Dawn went vegan back in 2013, in solidarity with her dad after he received a non-Hodgkin lymphoma diagnosis. She talks about getting naked for PETA, the ethical intentionality behind her food truck and what (not-vegan) food she misses the most but will never eat again.  

Then we crack into the history & explore the culture of what is, perhaps, New Orleans’ oldest food tradition: crawfish! Food historian Dr Zella Palmer introduces host Rachel Belle to Al Scramuzza, the city’s late Crawfish King, and shares her favorite places to experience a crawfish boil in the city.   

• Become a Cascade PBS member and support public media!    
• Watch Rachel’s Cascade PBS TV show The Nosh with Rachel Belle.  
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• Order Rachel’s cookbook Open Sesame. 

This week on The Leftovers, never-before-heard audio from singer-songwriter and guitarist M. Ward.

In this week’s lightning round, Ward talks about his favorite American cities to get an amazing Mexican meal and what holiday dessert he'd prefer to have on his birthday.

Listen to the full episode of Your Last Meal with M. Ward here. 

Become a Cascade PBS member and support public media!   

Watch Rachel’s Cascade PBS TV show The Nosh with Rachel Belle. 

Sign up for Rachel’s (free!) biweekly Cascade PBS newsletter for more food musings. 

Follow along on Instagram. 

Order Rachel’s cookbook Open Sesame. 

Singer-songwriter and guitarist M. Ward is also half of She & Him (with volcalist Zooey Deschanel) and a member of the indie supergroup Monsters of Folk. And I don't know how to tell him that he may never have his last meal ever again - the restaurant that makes the dish shut down late last year! 

M. Ward's last meal comes from Tucson, Arizona, one of only two UNESCO Cities of Gastronomy in the United States. What does that mean? What makes Tucson's food scene so special? You're about to find out! 

Ward also shares why he became a vegetarian, his family's immigration story and the Mexican dishes that he grew up with that he still makes to this day. 

• Become a Cascade PBS member and support public media!
• Watch Rachel’s Cascade PBS TV show The Nosh with Rachel Belle. 
• Sign up for Rachel’s (free!) biweekly Cascade PBS newsletter for more food musings. 
• Follow along on Instagram. 
• Order Rachel’s cookbook Open Sesame. 

This week on The Leftovers, never-before-heard audio from Karen Akunowicz, James Beard Award winning chef, Top Chef contestant & chef/owner of Boston’s Fox & the Knife and Bar Vulpe. 

In this week’s lightning round, Karen talks about the surprising rules and regulations of opening a restaurant in an airport; what her favorite restaurant in Boston is and where to get the world's best carrot cake. 

Listen to the full episode of Your Last Meal with Karen Akunowicz here!

Become a Cascade PBS member and support public media!   

Watch Rachel’s Cascade PBS TV show The Nosh with Rachel Belle. 

Sign up for Rachel’s (free!) biweekly Cascade PBS newsletter for more food musings. 

Follow along on Instagram. 

Order Rachel’s cookbook Open Sesame. 

Chef Karen Akunowicz is a Northeast gal through and through. The James Beard Award winning Top Chef alum is chef-owner of Boston’s Bar Vulpe and Fox and the Knife, named best new restaurant in America in 2019 by Food & Wine Magazine, Eater and USA Today. And her last meal is sun-drenched and summery, enjoyed on the deck of her favorite Maine seafood restaurant, overlooking sparkly water and the Five Islands.  

Karen tells host Rachel Belle what it’s like raising a bougie, foodie toddler; ranks French fry shapes from best to worst; tells the story of how she fell in love with cooking (spoiler: she was trying to get a coworker to fall in love with her) and her secret to making fantastic, award-winning Italian food (an Italian couple once made a reservation at her restaurant 17 nights in a row!). She also talks about her management style, and how she has worked to make her employees happy in a fair and equitable way. 

Then Rachel chats with John Birdsall, author of the book What is Queer Food? John shares several stories from his book, from a charming, personal childhood tale about the culinary awakening he had when his gay neighbors cooked for him in the 1960s, to the story of the man who invented the chiffon cake, to the historical connection between lesbians and potlucks.  

Become a Cascade PBS member and support public media!         

Watch Rachel’s Cascade PBS TV show The Nosh with Rachel Belle.       

Sign up for Rachel’s (free!) biweekly Cascade PBS newsletter for more food musings.       

Follow along on Instagram.       

Order Rachel’s cookbook Open Sesame. 

This week on The Leftovers, never-before-heard audio from Padma Lakshmi, Emmy nominated TV host, executive producer, best-selling author and activist. Padma hosted Top Chef for 17 years and her brand new show, America’s Culinary Cup, recently premiered on CBS.   

In this week’s lightning round, Padma talks about how she decides whether to eat the food fans bring her at meet-and-greet events; what she ate as a 16-year-old teenager in Los Angeles; what the ultimate New York City food is and her perfect birthday dessert.  

Listen to the full episode of Your Last Meal with Padma Lakshmi here! 

Become a Cascade PBS member and support public media!   

Watch Rachel’s Cascade PBS TV show The Nosh with Rachel Belle. 

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Order Rachel’s cookbook Open Sesame. 

After leaving Top Chef after a 17-year run as Emmy-nominated host and executive producer, Padma Lakshmi vowed to never host another food competition show again. She created and hosted Taste the Nation, an exploration of American food through the lens of immigrant and indigenous communities, continued to write cookbooks (Padma’s All American is her latest) and do activist work for the ACLU and UN.  

But last week, her new culinary competition show America’s Culinary Cup premiered on CBS! Why did she break her vow? You’ll have to listen to find out!  

Padma and host Rachel Belle talk about the joy of eating in bed; her favorite midnight snacks to eat with her teenage daughter, Krishna; and what valuable lessons her grandmother taught her about life, through the lens of cooking.  

Then New York Times food reporter Priya Krishna joins the show to talk about the negative impact ICE detainments and raids are having on American restaurants. The folks she interviewed say it’s harder on restaurants than the pandemic was.  

Get the Your Last Meal food crawl Google map that pins every restaurant, pickle shop and pizza joint mentioned on the show over the past 9.5 years! 

Become a Cascade PBS member and support public media!        

Watch Rachel’s Cascade PBS TV show The Nosh with Rachel Belle.      

Sign up for Rachel’s (free!) biweekly Cascade PBS newsletter for more food musings.      

Follow along on Instagram.      

Order Rachel’s cookbook Open Sesame. 

This week, we are re-airing one of my favorite episodes with singer-songwriter, surfer and filmmaker Jack Johnson! This interview was extra special, because it was exactly 20 years after the first time I interviewed Jack, when I was a budding, baby reporter, writing for an alt-weekly in my college town, and his music career was just getting started.  

Jack is an environmentalist and he tells me the great lengths he takes to reduce waste at venues and how he supports local farms when he's out on tour. 

Zero Waste Chef, Anne Marie Bonneau, joins the show to share her tips for a zero-waste home kitchen. Have you even dehydrated fruit in your hot car, bro?

Jack has been with his wife, Kim, for 33 years and his last meal, and the story behind his song Banana Pancakes, are both inspired by their love story.

Jack’s new film, a documentary called Surfilmusic about his evolution from surfer to filmmaker to world renowned musician, premieres March 13th 2026 at SXSW! His SURFILMUSIC 2026 North American Tour has 43 stops from June through October, and he’s being supported by G. Love and Lake Street Dive, both past guests on Your Last Meal! 

Become a Cascade PBS member and support public media!       

Watch Rachel’s Cascade PBS TV show The Nosh with Rachel Belle.     

Sign up for Rachel’s (free!) biweekly Cascade PBS newsletter for more food musings.     

Follow along on Instagram.     

Order Rachel’s cookbook Open Sesame. 

This week on The Leftovers, never-before-heard audio from Yotam Ottolenghi, chef and author of 9 bestselling cookbooks, co-owner of 12 restaurants and delis and a longtime columnist for the Guardian and The New York Times. 

In a lightening round with host Rachel Belle, Ottolenghi reveals his favorite food holiday (hint: he and Rachel bond over a love for sour cream); his opinion of British food as an Israeli transplant; and how people react when they find out he’s coming over for dinner.  

Listen to the full episode of Your Last Meal with Yotam Ottolenghi here. 

• Become a Cascade PBS member and support public media!       
• Watch Rachel’s Cascade PBS TV show The Nosh with Rachel Belle.     
• Sign up for Rachel’s (free!) biweekly Cascade PBS newsletter for more food musings.     
• Follow along on Instagram.     
• Order Rachel’s cookbook Open Sesame. 

If you're an adventurous cook, chances are you’ve made on Ottolenghi recipe! The chef and newspaper columnist has written nine bestselling cookbooks, including Jerusalem, Plenty and Comfort, and co-owns 12 restaurants and delis, mostly in London.  

Yotam and I talk about how he found his way to a food career (he has advanced degrees in completely different subjects) and tackle philosophical questions like: Is cooking an art form? Do homely, but delicious dishes belong in cookbooks despite their lack of beauty? 

For the past decade, the brand’s creative hub is the Ottolenghi Test Kitchen, where a team of diverse cooks create and test recipes with Yotam at the helm. So I chat with a man who has run many magazine test kitchens, Hunter Lewis, editor-in-chief of Food and Wine Magazine. He takes us behind the scenes of the test kitchen to see how the sausage is literally and figuratively made. 

Get tickets to see Yotam Ottolenghi on tour!

Get the recipe for Ottolenghi's Clementine Almond Syrup Cake!

• Become a Cascade PBS member and support public media!       
• Watch Rachel’s Cascade PBS TV show The Nosh with Rachel Belle.     
• Sign up for Rachel’s (free!) biweekly Cascade PBS newsletter for more food musings.     
• Follow along on Instagram.     
• Order Rachel’s cookbook Open Sesame. 

This week on The Leftovers, never-before-heard audio from Lachi, award-winning recording artist, CEO of RAMPD (Recording Artists and Music Professionals with Disabilities), host of the PBS series Renegades, and author of the new book, I Identify as Blind. 

In a spirited lightening round, Lachi speaks to her true passion: melting cheese on anything and everything; we debate pulp vs no pulp in orange juice; ketchup vs no ketchup on hot dogs; she shares her favorite food city in America; and what it’s like navigating a buffet as a blind person.  

Listen to the full episode of Your Last Meal with Lachi here. 

• Become a Cascade PBS member and support public media!      
• Watch Rachel’s Cascade PBS TV showThe Nosh with Rachel Belle.    
• Sign up for Rachel’s (free!) biweekly Cascade PBS newsletter for more food musings.    
• Follow along on Instagram.    
• Order Rachel’s cookbook Open Sesame. 

Lachi is an award-winning recording artist, CEO of RAMPD (Recording Artists and Music Professionals with Disabilities), host of the PBS series Renegades, disability advocate and author of the new book, I Identify as Blind: A Brazen Celebration of Disability Culture, Identity and Power. She’s also a joyful, gregarious ray of sunshine! 

Like the name of her book implies, Lachi is legally blind. She tells host Rachel Belle how learning to cook was a big part of learning to be independent and how finally being out and proud of her blindness has made life so much easier and more successful. And she shares why eggs play a starring role in her relationship with her longtime partner, Arthur.  

Then we meet the creator of The Blind Cafe, a pop-up dinner that travels the world, giving diners the experience of eating in pitch darkness.  

• Become a Cascade PBS member and support public media!    
• Watch Rachel’s Cascade PBS TV show The Nosh with Rachel Belle.  
• Sign up for Rachel’s (free!) biweekly Cascade PBS newsletter for more food musings.  
• Follow along on Instagram.  
• Order Rachel’s cookbook Open Sesame.  

This week on The Leftovers, never-before-heard audio from Chuck Klosterman, the pop culture obsessed best-selling author, critic and journalist. 

Chuck moved from New York City to Portland, Oregon in 2017, a city known for its creative, eclectic, innovative restaurant scene. A scene that, you will hear, Chuck does not appreciate! Please enjoy his rant. He talks about the book that most inspired his writing career, the importance of having a distinct writing voice and wonders what distinguishes red velvet cake from regular chocolate cake, besides the Red 40. 

Listen to the full episode of Your Last Meal with Chuck Klosterman here. 

• Become a Cascade PBS member and support public media!     
• Watch Rachel’s Cascade PBS TV showThe Nosh with Rachel Belle.   
• Sign up for Rachel’s (free!) biweekly Cascade PBS newsletter for more food musings.   
• Follow along on Instagram.   
• Order Rachel’s cookbook Open Sesame. 

In this fantasy world, where my guests can choose anything they want for their hypothetical last meal, there is something very charming and humble about choosing...leftovers. Which is exactly what bestselling author, critic and journalist Chuck Klosterman did! 

Chuck told me he’s not that into food, then proceeded to deliver hot take after hot take, passionately opining on everything from candy bar innovation to turkey consumption to his disdain of restaurant chitchat. And he asks me a surprising question no guest has ever asked me before, in the nine years of making this podcast: Why am I a guest on this show?  

Do you eat leftovers? A Wall Street Journal food reporter joins the show to share new data on Americans’ relationship with the plastic containers of food piling up in our refrigerators.  

Then Chuck and I chat about his new book, Football and he tells me a hilarious story about the times he’s been mixed up with other famous Chucks.  

---------------

Listen to the Prodigy episode, featuring an inmate who cooked many death row meals.

• Become a Cascade PBS member and support public media!    
• Watch Rachel’s Cascade PBS TV showThe Nosh with Rachel Belle.  
• Sign up for Rachel’s (free!) biweekly Cascade PBS newsletter for more food musings.  
• Follow along on Instagram.  
• Order Rachel’s cookbook Open Sesame.  

This week on The Leftovers, never-before-heard audio from Neko Case, Grammy-nominated artist and author of the best-selling memoir, The Harder I Fight the More I Love You. Her brand-new album is called Neon Grey Midnight Green. 

On this week’s lightning round, Neko talks about her favorite fair food (her grandma worked at a food stand at her local fair when she was a kid!), what she listens to when she cooks and her farmer aspirations!  

Listen to the full episode of Your Last Meal with Neko Case here. 

Become a Cascade PBS member and support public media!   
Watch Rachel’s Cascade PBS TV showThe Nosh with Rachel Belle. 
Sign up for Rachel’s (free!) biweekly Cascade PBS newsletter for more food musings. 
Follow along on Instagram. 
Order Rachel’s cookbook Open Sesame. 

The only thing Grammy-nominated musician Neko Case craves more than crisp-on-the-outside, fluffy-on-the-inside popovers is Hungarian food from a 61-year-old restaurant in Ohio. Neko tells host Rachel Belle about her favorite Eastern European dishes and how eating at The Balaton helped her reconnect with her long-lost heritage.  

But back to popovers! We’re joined by a pastry chef who baked thousands of popovers every day, five days a week, for five years at Acadia National Park’s Jordan Pond House, the popover epicenter of the United States. Sign up for Rachel’s The Nosh Newsletter to get her recipe.  

Neko Case’s new album is Neon Grey Midnight Green. 

• Become a Cascade PBS member and support public media!   
• Watch Rachel’s Cascade PBS TV show, The Nosh with Rachel Belle. 
• Follow along on Instagram. 
• Order Rachel’s cookbook Open Sesame. 

This week on The Leftovers, never-before-heard audio from Jonathan Russell, vocalist, guitarist and founding member of the band The Head and the Heart. 

In this week’s lightning round, Jonathan talks about the joy of picking up the tab, what back-up dish he often brings to holiday meals (just in case he doesn’t like the version the hosts made!) and what he loves to cook when he returns home from tour. 

Listen to the full episode of Your Last Meal with Jonathan Russell here. 

Become a Cascade PBS member and support public media!   

Watch Rachel’s Cascade PBS TV showThe Nosh with Rachel Belle. 

Sign up for Rachel’s (free!) biweekly Cascade PBS newsletter for more food musings. 

Follow along on Instagram. 

Order Rachel’s cookbook Open Sesame. 

Jonathan Russell is one of the founding members (vocals, guitar) of The Head and the Heart, a band that organically formed at weekly open-mic nights at Seattle’s Conor Byrne Pub.  

Russell didn’t grow up with happy memories around the dinner table. He tells host Rachel Belle about his natural inclination to eat alone, why a crab boil is the perfect meal for an introvert and how working in bars and restaurants changed the way he orders.  

Rachel’s friend, Roz Ray, joins the show to share her best party strategies for shy and introverted people, and how to use food as a social glue! 

And Jonathan talks about why the six members of The Head and the Heart started seeing a therapist together. 

Thanks to the Seattle Symphony for setting up this interview! 

• Become a Cascade PBS member and support public media! 
• Watch Rachel’s Cascade PBS TV showThe Nosh with Rachel Belle.  
• Sign up for Rachel’s (free!) biweekly Cascade PBS newsletter for more food musings. 
• Follow along on Instagram.  
• Order Rachel’s cookbook Open Sesame. 

This week on The Leftovers, never-before-heard audio from Alice Waters, award winning chef, creator of the iconic 54-year-old restaurant Chez Panisse in Berkeley California, food activist and author of the new cookbook, “A School Lunch Revolution.” 

In this week’s lightning round, Alice talks about a memorable school lunch from her own childhood, her signature holiday dish, and her favorite comfort food, as someone who eats extremely healthfully, local and organic.  

Listen to the full episode of Your Last Meal with Alice Waters here!

Become a Cascade PBS member and support public media!  

Watch Rachel’s Cascade PBS TV show The Nosh with Rachel Belle.
Sign up for Rachel’s (free!) biweekly Cascade PBS newsletter for more food musings.
Follow along on Instagram.
Order Rachel’s cookbook Open Sesame. 

Support Cascade PBS: https://secure.cascadepublicmedia.org/page/133995/donate/1/

Alice Waters opened her iconic Berkeley, California restaurant Chez Panisse 54 years ago, introducing the concept of farm-to-table eating to Americans and only serving local, seasonal produce at peak ripeness. She’s also a food activist, and through The Edible Schoolyard Project, has spent the past 30 years showing schools how to integrate locally farmed, organic produce into their cafeterias. 

On today’s episode, Alice shares two life-changing experiences that inspired her to open her restaurant; what diners thought about being served two figs for dessert in Chez Panisse’s early days; how schools can afford to serve kids farm fresh food; and what she packed in her own daughter’s lunchbox. And we take a peak inside her her new cookbook, A School Lunch Revolution. 

Then the Director of Nutrition Services for California’s Sweet Water Union High School district joins the show to talk about how he flipped the district’s lunch program on its head, buying more than half of the food from local farmers and producers or having the students grow it themselves.  

• Become a Cascade PBS member and support public media!
• Watch Rachel’s Cascade PBS TV show The Nosh with Rachel Belle. 
• Sign up for Rachel’s (free!) biweekly Cascade PBS newsletter for more food musings.
• Follow along on Instagram. 
• Order Rachel’s cookbook Open Sesame. 

Support Cascade PBS: https://secure.cascadepublicmedia.org/page/133995/donate/1/

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This week on The Leftovers, never-before-heard audio from chef and best-selling cookbook author Gaby Dalkin, who's known online and on social as What’s Gaby Cooking. 

In this week’s lightning round, Gaby and host Rachel Belle bond over their favorite childhood birthday cake, Gaby shares the late-night, stand-over-the-sink snack she’d never put in a cookbook, and surprises Rachel with her answer to the question, “What do you wish people would ask you about in interviews, that’s not related to food?”  

• Become a Cascade PBS member and support public media! 

• Watch Rachel’s Cascade PBS TV show The Nosh with Rachel Belle. 

• Sign up for Rachel’s (free!) biweekly Cascade PBS newsletter for more food musings. 

• Follow along on Instagram. 
• Order Rachel’s cookbook Open Sesame. 

Support Cascade PBS: https://secure.cascadepublicmedia.org/page/133995/donate/1/

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Earlier this month, at Seattle’s Town Hall, Rachel Belle was a guest on a sold-out, live taping of Seattle Eats with host Tan Vinh, the award-winning food and drink writer for The Seattle Times. Bestselling cookbook author and chef, J. Kenji Lopez-Alt was also a guest!

The first segment of the show is dedicated to Thanksgiving: we learn about a local sushi chef’s recipe for teriyaki turkey, how green bean casserole factors into Tan’s immigrant story, and why Rachel has fond Thanksgiving memories of KFC and Celine Dion.  Then Tan asks Rachel and Kenji about their Seattle favorites (best pizza, best bagels, best place to take a date) and Rachel gets to express her love for 1980s salad bars and The Baby-Sitters Club. 
 
Seattle Eats is a production of The Seattle Times and KUOW, part of the NPR network.  

• Become a Cascade PBS member and support public media!
• Watch Rachel’s Cascade PBS TV show, The Nosh.
• Sign up for Rachel’s (free!) biweekly Cascade PBS newsletter for more food musings. 
• Follow along on Instagram. 
• Order Rachel’s cookbook Open Sesame. 

Support Cascade PBS: https://secure.cascadepublicmedia.org/page/133995/donate/1/

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.