Maxwell's Kitchen

Cinque Terre is one of those places that almost looks fake. Five villages built into the cliffs, trains running through the mountains, boats in the water, pastel buildings stacked on top of each other, and tourists absolutely everywhere because apparently everybody else also saw the same pictures. In this episode, I spend a fast 24-hour style stop in Cinque Terre, starting in Monterosso al Mare, h...

Finale Ligure in 24 hours (Finalmarina, Finalpia, Finalborgo). A travel guide on transportation, lodging, and food on the Italian Riviera. Finale Ligure is a coastal community made up of three communes, and it’s a more relaxed, working-class counterpoint to the Monaco/Nice extravagance. I came in expecting quaint seaside village vibes, got a brutally hot, packed beach day… then Finalborgo (the med...

Monaco in 24 hours. Train from Nice, the tunnel exit jaw-drop moment, Solarium Beach, Monaco-Ville (The Rock), Monte Carlo, and a waterfront pizza that had no business being that good. Monaco is a sovereign city-state on the French Riviera, and it’s basically a real-life cheat code - tiny, spotless, and insanely beautiful. The train from Nice was chaos, but the second you step into the sunlight in...

Nice France travel guide for a fast 24 hours on the French Riviera (Côte d’Azur). This one-day itinerary covers where to stay, the Promenade des Anglais, what the beach is really like, a great Old Town dinner, and how easy it is to hop on the train and keep moving along the coast. Also: a quick airline chaos story that somehow ends with me getting on the plane anyway. The One-Day Itinerary • Arriv...

Planning a Europe backpacking trip sounds complicated until you break it into normal pieces: where am I flying, where am I sleeping, how am I getting around, and how much stuff am I willing to drag through a train station while sweating? In this episode, I walk through how I plan a fast multi-city Europe trip: using Google Flights, finding cheap one-way flights, choosing hotels based on transporta...

Sex is almost never just about sex. In this episode, I talk with Alana Ogilvie, a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist and Certified Sex Therapist at Portland Sex Therapy, about desire differences, intimacy problems, emotional connection, couples therapy, open relationships, infidelity, porn, shame, confidence, and why people often wait too long to get help. A lot of people think sex therapy is...

Neutral Milk Hotel’s “King of Carrot Flowers Pt. 1” sounds simple, strange, raw, and emotional in a way that still feels impossible to fully explain. In this episode of Maxwell’s Kitchen, I break down the opening song from In the Aeroplane Over the Sea and try to figure out why it still works after what feels like a thousand listens. This is part of my series “Why Is This Song So Good?” where I ta...

Forensic pathology is one of those jobs most people think they understand because they have seen enough true crime shows to feel confident. The real version is different. In this episode of Maxwell’s Kitchen, I talk with Dr. Sean Hurst, a forensic pathologist and medical examiner in Oregon, about what medical examiners actually do, how autopsies work, how death investigations happen, and why real...

Nike is one of those brands that feels like it has always been here. The Swoosh. The shoes. The athletes. The ads. The stories. The mythology. In this episode of Maxwell’s Kitchen, I talk with Scott Reames, Nike’s former corporate historian and head of the Department of Nike Archives, about Nike history, the Swoosh, Shoe Dog, the movie Air, NikeTown, athlete appearances, Air Jordan, Steve Prefonta...

Pop culture trivia with friends always sounds simple until everyone starts arguing about Joe Dirt, Barbie, DuckTales, Christmas movies, childhood memories, and whether anyone actually knows the real name of Flea from Red Hot Chili Peppers. In this episode of Maxwell’s Kitchen, I sit down with Jabroni and Philly Boy for another trivia game that starts with categories and points and slowly turns int...

Pop culture trivia with friends always starts with a plan. Then somebody brings up Michael Jordan, the Ford Pinto, awkward birthday songs, Santa Claus, JNCO jeans, Mountain Dew, and suddenly the plan is more of a suggestion. In this episode of Maxwell’s Kitchen, I sit down with Jabroni and Philly Boy for another trivia game covering Michael Jordan, cars that flopped, celebrity yearbook photos, Ame...

Woodworking sounds simple until you talk to someone who has spent a lifetime doing it. Then it becomes design, math, patience, taste, tools, materials, failure, discipline, problem solving, and trying not to ruin a piece of wood that did not ask for any of this. In this episode of Maxwell’s Kitchen, I talk with Gary Rogowski, a furniture maker, author, teacher, and podcaster, about woodworking, ha...

“Barking at the Moon” by Jenny Lewis is technically a song from Disney’s Bolt , which means it would be very easy to dismiss it as a kids movie song and move on like a normal person. I did not do that. In this episode of Maxwell’s Kitchen, I break down why “Barking at the Moon” works so well: the simple three-chord structure, Jenny Lewis’ voice, the harmonies, the bassline, the mandolin-style part...

Salt is one of those things most people think they understand because there is a little container of it in the kitchen. You shake it on food. You move on. Then you talk to Mark Bitterman and realize salt is tied to civilization, trade, preservation, cooking, flavor, farming, community, weather, food systems, restaurants, capitalism, environmental impact, and the strange fact that a steak in France...

Sex trafficking is one of those topics most people understand in the broadest possible way. They know it is horrible. They know it exists. But a lot of people do not understand how it actually works, how often manipulation is involved, how vulnerable people are targeted, and why victims may not always recognize what is happening while they are still inside it. In this episode of Maxwell’s Kitchen,...

I recorded this the day after my first ayahuasca ceremony because I wanted to get it down before the details started disappearing. This is not advice, a recommendation, or me pretending to be some psychedelic guru. It is a personal story about walking into something I was genuinely scared of, trying to let go of control, and having one of the most overwhelming experiences of my life. I talk throug...

Recording music sounds romantic until you remember that someone has to actually make it work. The band has to show up prepared enough to capture something real. The engineer has to understand the room, the microphones, the gear, the people, the time, the money, the tension, and the tiny psychological disaster that can happen when someone has to do the same take 47 times. In this episode of Maxwell...

This episode of Why Is This Song So Good? is a little different. There is no talking in this one. No breakdown. No explanation. Just a visual full-band cover of NOFX’s “Seeing Double at the Triple Rock.” I play both guitar parts, bass, and drums along to the original recording, with three versions of me on screen at the same time like I cloned myself into a very small punk band. The idea is simple...

The Pacific Northwest looks normal because we are used to it. The Columbia River Gorge, The Dalles, Eastern Washington, Portland, Lake Oswego, the Willamette Valley. It all just feels like the landscape we happen to live in. Then you learn about the Missoula Floods and realize a lot of this place was shaped by repeated Ice Age mega floods that tore through the region with enough force to rearrange...

Sketchy Scott and Jabroni are back for Round 2 of the Maxwell’s Kitchen Pop Culture Trivia Game. There are categories, points, drinks, buzzers, and a championship belt situation that may or may not be legally binding. This round includes Dead or Alive, Cartoon Characters, Lines from Movies, U.S. Presidents, Baywatch, Russell Crowe, DeLorean, and old cigarette ads. It also includes nicknames, fake...

Sketchy Scott and Jabroni play Round 1 of the Maxwell’s Kitchen Pop Culture Trivia Game. There are buzzers, drinks, categories, points, a heavyweight title belt, and the kind of confidence that usually shows up right before someone gets a very easy question wrong. This round includes 80s Hair Bands, What Theme Song Is This, Random, 1960s Music, Breakfast Cereals, 90s Hip-Hop, Italy, Sneakers, and...

Human evolution is weird because the story only feels inevitable after it already happened. Dinosaurs ruled the planet for an amount of time our brains cannot really hold. Then an asteroid hit the Yucatán, the world changed, a bunch of life disappeared, and tiny mammals got their opening. Very normal way to start the family tree. In this episode of Maxwell’s Kitchen, I talk with Stephen Frost, a p...

Some people relax by watching TV. I relax by ripping apart a bathroom and immediately wondering if I have made a terrible mistake. In this episode of Maxwell’s Kitchen, I walk through the first major bathroom remodel in my 1960s house. The bathroom still had a lot of original pieces from 1968, including the sink, vanity, floor, lighting situation, and a general feeling of “someone should probably...

Sex education is usually treated like one awkward class in school, but it is really about a lot more than biology. In this episode of Maxwell’s Kitchen, I talk with sexuality educators Kris Gowen and Leah Haas about comprehensive sex education, adult sex ed, consent, communication, body language, gender identity, technology, shame, relationships, media literacy, and why so many adults are still tr...

A recap video of all the guests over the first 100 episodes. All production by Cody Maxwell. Artwork by Cody Maxwell. Graphic assets by OpenFX. Music by Paul_Velchev. sharkfyn.com maxwellskitchenpodcast.com