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American Tawainese journalist Clarisa Wei reports this investigative look at staple crops grown in similar climate zones globally, discussing how they are grown, prepared and eaten around the world. In “Climate Cuisine,” Wei talks with soil scientists, chefs, researchers and writers (including our own Ryan Nebeker in episode 2 on taro) to discuss how the increasing impact of climate change will affect these crops, which many communities depend on. As Satterfield describes it: “‘Climate Cuisine’ is not only entertaining, I think of it as service journalism. We need to make more clear the connection between our diet and our climate and the show does it brilliantly.” 

Start With: Why All the Bananas at the Grocery Store Taste the Same

Atlanta chef and cookbook author Jessamine Starr hosts the quirky podcast “Fruit Love Letters,” inspired by her lifetime love of all fruits. Making use of her literature degree, Starr pens love letters to her favorite fruit — a different one each episode — and then dives into learning more about them. Satterfield describes the podcast as “gorgeous,” “smart and thoughtful” and “a delightful lesson.” Through conversations with chefs, farmers, scientists and fellow enthusiasts, listeners can discover more than they ever knew possible about the fruit in their refrigerator, from the apple and fig to blueberry, avocado pit and more.

Start With: The Improbable Path of the Avocado Pit

Hosted by Anishinaabe seed keeper and community organizer Shiloh Maples, “Spirit Plate” honors the Indigenous communities across Turtle Island (North America). In interviews with seed keepers, chefs, farmers and Indigenous community members, Maples looks at the social, political and historical elements of the Indigenous food sovereignty movement, and gives examples of the work being done to preserve and revitalize ancestral foodways. For Satterfield, “Spirit Plate is grounding, stirring and revelatory. It is a necessary confrontation of the persistent erasure of Indigenous American narratives.”

Start With: A Landscape of Relations with Rowen White

The most recent series to launch, “Setting the Table” focuses on African American culinary traditions, tackling The Great Migration and how cuisine traveled across America, farmland ownership, food and civil rights and the future of Black food. Hosted by Virginia-based food writer Debra Freeman, it showcases how African Americans have shaped the culinary landscape of this country, by exploring historical events and looking at the Black authors, chefs and other influencers moving the culinary narrative forward. “It’s a conversation with people who are deeply invested and deeply passionate about these topics,” Freeman told the website Southern Kitchen.

Start With: The Great Migration and Black Food