The Story Exchange

In our final episode, we explore our original food – the culinary traditions of Turtle Island, which is how many Indigenous cultures refer to North America.  With many celebrations planned for the 250th anniversary of the United States, we thought it would be a particularly poignant time to look back to Native food. "Food is a gift from the land in our way of thinking," says Jill Falcon Ramaker, a...

Elena Zelayeta was a Mexican-American chef working in California starting in the 1930s. She had a popular restaurant called Elena's Mexican Kitchen, which served dishes like enchiladas, chili rellenos and fajitas – dishes that many Americans weren't familiar with at that time. Later, she hosted a TV show called "It's Fun to Eat" and is widely credited with introducing Mexican flavors to a U.S. aud...

Edna Lewis was a chef and cookbook author whose memories and devotion to the delicious, fresh flavors of her Virginia childhood forever changed the way we think of Southern food. While our previous episodes have focused on women who time may have forgotten – MFK Fisher, Cecilia Chiang, Lena Richard – Lewis certainly holds a prestigious position today in the food community, inspiring chefs and home...

Lena Richard was a chef of Creole cuisine from New Orleans, famous for her shrimp bisque and spicy chicken gumbo. She not only had a cooking school, a cookbook, several restaurants and even a frozen food line (unusual for the 1940s), but she was also one of the first American women to have her own cooking show. Richard "is one of the most profound American women in history," says Zella Parmer of D...

In San Francisco, an immigrant restaurateur brings authentic Chinese cuisine to the U.S. via The Mandarin. It's a love letter to her childhood in China, pre-Communist Revolution. On any given night in 1960s San Francisco, you could walk into the upscale dining room of the Mandarin restaurant, and hear the sizzle of pan-fried pot stickers, and smell signature dishes like beggar's chicken or peppery...

It's not a stretch to say that the way we think, eat and write about food can be traced directly back to MFK Fisher. The prolific California writer, born Mary Mary Frances Kennedy Fisher but better known by her initials, was "not a recipe writer," says her biographer Anne Zimmerman, author of "An Extravagant Hunger." "She was an eater. She was a sensual person. She enjoyed things. She observed thi...

When Roe fell, no one expected abortion rates to rise. Or pills to get easier to access. We talk to two women about leading the resistance, what the future holds, and how to manage fear. Angel Foster is a university professor who runs a shield-law practice out of Massachusetts that providers mifepristone and misoprostol to abortion seekers in all 50 states. Julie Burkhart, recently named to Time's...

We bring you our fascinating conversation with Jessica Iclisoy, who founded California Baby some 30 years ago. As a new mom, she randomly spotted a chemical dictionary at her local library -- and discovered her son's baby shampoo was loaded with toxic chemicals. "It's one of those things where fate puts things in front of you," she says. Appalled, Iclisoy began an investigation into safer ingredie...

The year was 1994. "Friends" had just premiered, Bill Clinton was president, and online dating – if it happened at all – was a sketchy proposition. A startup called Match.com was trying to persuade the romantically inclined that the World Wide Web (as it was then known) was a hot spot to meet potential mates. Fran Maier, who had a background in marketing, joined Match.com to bring a woman's perspe...

In 2003, a deadly heat wave hit Paris, causing the death of over 15,000 people. It was one of the first weather events where scientists could use data to show climate change was to blame. Since that time, we've seen an increasing number of deadly natural disasters, from Hurricane Katrina to Hurricane Harvey, to the 2018 California wildfires, all irrefutably linked to climate change. In this episod...

On Aug. 29, 2005, Hurricane Katrina tore into the Gulf Coast with gusting winds of 175 miles per hour – and a storm surge of 26 feet. Lisa Dyson, who had spent her childhood summers near New Orleans, had just earned her PhD from MIT when the news broke. After witnessing the devastation, she was motivated to dedicate her scientific career to working on solutions to the climate crisis. Dyson is now...

Menopause is having a moment on social media -- and it's about damn time. We talk to the hugely popular Dr. Mary Claire Haver, a board-certified OB-GYN and nutritionist, about the lack of adequate care and attention for older women's health needs. And we ask Haver, founder of the Galveston Diet and ThePauseLife.com, about her surprising rise to TikTok fame.

It's been two years since the Taliban took back control of Afghanistan. We talk to women -- some who fled, some who stayed back -- about what life is like now. Many of the women expressed frustration that the media often portrays them as victims when they see themselves as fighters. While the Taliban seeks to erase them from public life, we want to give them a platform to speak their minds. These...

Did you know that crickets are considered a "perfect" protein -- and that eating insects could help save the planet? We talk to Claire Simons of 3 Cricketeers, a Minneapolis cricket farm that supplies edible insects to restaurants, food companies and consumers. While there is still an "ick factor," Claire says more people are interested in trying crickets, which can be raised far more sustainably...

Crack open a can with us and listen while we share the story of Jacquie Berglund, who sarted Finnegans back in 2000 as the first beer company in the world – that we know about – to donate 100 percent of its profits to charity. We love women entrepreneurs who give back, and she is a great example of how one person can make an incredible difference in this world. Proceeds from Finnegans go to the Fo...

The little girl who grew up in the public housing projects of New York City becomes an urban farmer, helping establish community gardens around the city and founding Rise & Root farm for the BIPOC community in Hudson Valley. Listen to the remarkable tale of Karen Washington, who fans and food activists now refer to as "Mama K." We share the poignant moments of her long and illustrious career.