Grammy-nominated singer, songwriter and pianist Regina Spektor grew up in Soviet Russia, so when she moved to the Bronx with her family in 1990, American food was a bit of a culture shock. Cereal! Oranges! Chocolate pudding cups! It was all brand-new! Regina shares a handful of her family’s immigration eating stories.

When in doubt, order the soup! That’s what Regina does. She tells host Rachel Belle about her (nearly) lifelong love of soup, what caused her to rebel against it in high school and why the simplest of broths would be her last meal.

Cookbook author Caroline Wright never set out to have a career in soup, but a terminal cancer diagnosis resulted in a soup club, two vegan soup cookbooks and the title of Seattle Soup Lady. She tells Rachel her story.

• Watch Rachel’s Cascade PBS TV show The Nosh with Rachel Belle! Season 2 out now!
• Sign up for Rachel’s new (free!) Cascade PBS newsletter for more food musings!
• Follow along on Instagram!
• Order Rachel’s cookbook Open Sesame.

Support the show: http://rachelbelle.substack.com/

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This week on The Leftovers, never-before-heard audio from Dave Barry, award-winning humorist, columnist and author.

Dave tells host Rachel Belle about the all-author band he’s been in for 30 years (that includes Stephen King!), what food he finds the funniest and why he hates lightning rounds (the entire episode is a lightning round!)

Listen to Dave’s Your Last Meal episode from last week!

• Watch Rachel’s Cascade PBS TV show The Nosh with Rachel Belle! Season 2 out now!
• Sign up for Rachel’s new (free!) Cascade PBS newsletter for more food musings!
• Follow along on Instagram!
• Order Rachel’s cookbook Open Sesame.

Support the show: http://rachelbelle.substack.com/

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Dave Barry wrote a nationally syndicated, Pulitzer Prize-winning column that appeared in 500 newspapers from 1983 to 2005 and has published dozens of books. His newest is his very first memoir: Class Clown: The Memoirs of a Professional Wiseass. How I Went 77 Years Without Growing Up.

Case in point: Dave really loves ketchup! He’s also very opinionated about it: where he stores it and what vessel it is delivered in. Spoiler alert: He keeps his ketchup on the counter. Food safety expert Angela Anandappa, executive director of Alliance for Advanced Sanitation, joins the show to tell us which condiments belong in the fridge and which are fine hanging out in the pantry. Plus, host Rachel Belle admits which condiment she’s had in the pantry for 10 years ... and still uses!

Dave, a seafood despiser, tells us what he did with the live Maine lobster mailed to him as a gift; what his family, a group of fruitcake despisers, did with gifted fruitcake; and Dave and Rachel conclude that the best place to cook French fries is in an airplane bathroom.

• Watch Rachel’s Cascade PBS TV show The Nosh with Rachel Belle! Season 2 out now!
• Sign up for Rachel’s new (free!) Cascade PBS newsletter for more food musings!
• Follow along on Instagram!
• Order Rachel’s cookbook Open Sesame.

Support the show: http://rachelbelle.substack.com/

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.