Americans spend almost a billion dollars each year on children’s dietary supplements: a category which, today, includes not just daily multivitamins but an increasingly exotic array of gummies aimed at promoting immunity, digestion, mood, and sleep. Liz and Jane unspool the history of our national obsession with vitamins with the science journalist and Vitamania author Catherine Price – then talk to pediatrician and educator Dr. Krupa Playforth, aka The Pediatrician Mom , to get to the bottom of...
Jul 19, 2023•47 min•Season 1Ep. 30
“Do I look fat in this?” This is the phrase that parents fear more than most any other. And yet, how many parents raised in the diet crazed 1980s and ‘90s have never said this themselves. As a nation, we are pathologically afraid of fat. And this, argues Virginia Sole-Smith is making us, not thinner or healthier, but fatter and sicker. Jane and Liz go deep with Virginia on her new book, Fat Talk: Parenting in the Age of Diet Culture , about how fatphobia affects children and how you to rethink c...
Jul 05, 2023•46 min•Season 1Ep. 29
Three meals, good. Extra snacks, bad. Or so they say. With the help of Professor Marion Nestle, Jane and Liz dig into the cultural history of snacking to find out why parents believe they should limit snacking and whether that advice still stands in a 24/7 world. Sales and distribution by Lemonada Media . See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Jun 21, 2023•46 min•Season 1Ep. 28
Twenty-six episodes down and still so many things to discover about why feeding kids is so absurdly complicated! Jane and Liz reflect on how a year of reporting did–and did not–change how they feed their kids, and, essentially, how they feel about their success. We're always planning future episodes. So if you have ideas you want to share with us, stories from your own kitchens, crazy things your kids said, nodding questions -- send a voice memo or email to: email@hellopressurecooker.fm Sales an...
Jun 07, 2023•38 min•Season 1Ep. 27
Some people will go to any length to cook the best version of pizza, ribs–you name it. J. Kenji Lopez-Alt is their culinary hero. The best-selling cookbook author and New York Times recipe columnist has earned a cult following putting the scientific method to work for home cooks. On this week’s episode, Kenji talks about how he really cooks at home for his kids and how he managed to get the only kid in the world who loves to eat fish heads. For more inspiration, check out two of Kenji’s favorite...
May 24, 2023•27 min•Season 1Ep. 26
Going to restaurants with kids is…not always fun. So how do we set the table for success? Jane and Liz talk to Roberta Schomburg, a child development expert who worked for many years with Fred–that’s Mister, to you--Rogers, and Daniel Post Senning, the great-, great-grandson of Emily Post who offers up tactical wisdom on how to teach good table manners to your kids. Sales and distribution by Lemonada Media See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information....
May 10, 2023•32 min•Season 1Ep. 25
One-third of Americans are trying to eat less meat. And yet…U.S. meat consumption per capita is at an all-time high. What gives? Turns out shifting your family’s diet is really (really) hard. On this episode, Jane and Liz talk to Jenny Rosenstrach, author of “ The Weekday Vegetarians ” for ideas on how to eat less meat overall and to accommodate kids who choose to skip meat. Trying to eat less meat yourself. Check out these additional resources: Dinner a Love Story Substack : Lots of ideas for m...
Apr 26, 2023•40 min•Season 1Ep. 24
Is scratch cooking really all it’s cracked up to be? In this episode, Jane and Liz challenge the idea that society’s ills can be solved by each of us spending more time in the kitchen, sing the praises of convenience food, and talk to the authors of the 2019 book Pressure Cooker: Why Home Cooking Won’t Solve Our Problems, and What We Can Do About It. The hosts close out the show by sharing the dinner shortcuts they love. As promised, here are Pressure Cooker’s picks for time-savers you can feel ...
Apr 12, 2023•36 min•Season 1Ep. 23
Same house. Same parents. Same food. And yet kids have vastly different tastes and interest in food. Is it something you’re doing? Or do genes control what our children will eat? Liz and Jane speak with Dr. Alison Fildes, a British geneticist, to try to untangle what’s nature, what’s nurture and how science can liberate you at the dinner table. Sales and distribution by Lemonada Media See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information....
Mar 29, 2023•27 min•Season 1Ep. 22
Since publishing her New York Times bestseller Fair Play in 2019, Eve Rodsky has become a leader in the movement to rebalance the domestic chore burden, which has historically fallen mostly to women. In this episode, Jane and Liz chat with Eve about her Fair Play system, how it came to be, and real strategies to help parents better work together to tackle the daily grind of feeding kids. Sales and distribution by Lemonada Media See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information....
Mar 15, 2023•41 min•Season 1Ep. 21
We know kids love it. But is boxed mac and cheese a healthy, and safe, meal for kids? In partnership with ParentData, Brown economist Emily Oster’s newsletter , Jane and Liz untangle the pros and cons of our kids’ beloved day-glo orange pasta. Alert: Emily Oster fans! Until March 31, Emily is offering Pressure Cooker listeners 20% off subscriptions to ParentData. For more information, visit www.parentdata.com/pressurecooker Sales and distribution by Lemonada Media See omnystudio.com/listener for...
Mar 02, 2023•30 min•Season 1Ep. 20
Kraft. Annie’s. Kids adore boxed mac and cheese. But how did this Depression Era “innovation” become America’s go-to kids food? Join Jane and Liz as they track the story from the days of Yankee Doodle and the 1893 World’s Fair to the modern Kraft juggernaut that sells more than 1 million boxes of day-glo orange cheesy pasta every day. Sales and distribution by Lemonada Media See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information....
Feb 15, 2023•32 min•Season 1Ep. 19
About 20 percent of American children are obese and the rates are disproportionately high among Black and Latino children. But parents seeking help for their children often have a hard time getting good advice. The dietetics industry is overwhelmingly white and industry education has, heretofore, focused on foods prized in European cultures. Deanna Bellany Lewis, co-founder of Diversify Dietetics , joins Jane and Liz to lay out the problem and potential solutions. For interested parents, two res...
Feb 01, 2023•31 min•Season 1Ep. 18
Jamie Oliver is a global celebrity chef at the helm of a media empire. And yep, even he struggles to feed his five kids without complaints. On this episode, Jamie discusses how to maintain your confidence, NOT to be a short order cook and shares his no-fair kid-approved recipe. Check out his new (awesome) book, One: Simple One-Pan Wonders , which is designed specifically to minimize dishes. You won’t be sorry. Sales and distribution by Lemonada Media See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy infor...
Jan 18, 2023•27 min•Season 1Ep. 17
Sugar is America’s number-one dietary villain. And kids…LOVE it. So how much sugar really is okay? Jane and Liz dive into the complicated question with Dr. David Katz, a specialist in preventive and lifestyle medicine to find out how much you need to worry about snacks, birthday party binges, and how to sensibly manage your little ones’ sugar intake. Sales and distribution by Lemonada Media See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information....
Jan 04, 2023•34 min•Season 1Ep. 16
Admit it. That vision that you have of baking with your children doesn’t always pan out. Instead of creating powerful memories, it’s often just a mess. So this week Jane and Liz are asking and answering whether the pros of cooking with kids really outweigh the cons–and how you can make cooking with your kids a pleasure this holiday season. Sales and distribution by Lemonada Media See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information....
Dec 14, 2022•40 min•Season 1Ep. 15
Get ready: This week, we’re talking about everybody’s favorite, totally NOT cringe-inducing or awkward topic: puberty. Because kids today--and girls, in particular--are going through it earlier than they used to. Why is it happening? And what, if anything, do the hormones in milk and meat have to do with it? On this episode, Jand and Liz talk with Dr. Louise Greenspan, who led one of the landmark studies about the timing of puberty in girls and co-authored a popular book about it called The New ...
Nov 30, 2022•26 min•Season 2Ep. 14
Color-blocked bento boxes? Bunny-shaped sandwiches? There are a lot of books that claim to have solutions to the tedium of packing school lunch. But are they realistic? Jane and Liz tested them out–so you don’t have to. We review four new books and dig up the tips and tricks that actually make packing lunch less tedious and maybe–maybe?--even fun. Sales and distribution by Lemonada Media See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information....
Nov 16, 2022•31 min•Season 1Ep. 13
OMG! Prices are insanely high. What foods have jumped the most and which are still affordable? Jane and Liz talk about what’s up and what’s down, when rising food prices might slow, then challenge the amazing chef Edward Lee to share creatively cheap weeknight lunches and dinners that kids will gobble up. (Hint: our favorite is a warm, honey-butter sweet potato.) Sales and distribution by Lemonada Media See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information....
Nov 02, 2022•35 min•Season 1Ep. 12
So many recipes out there are billed as “fast” or “easy.” But are those labels deserved? The shopping. The chopping. The cooking. The cleaning. It leaves a parent wondering: Is it just me , or is none of this, actually, easy ? On this week’s episode, Liz and Jane talk to Caroline Chambers, author of the popular newsletter What to Cook When You Don’t Feel Like Cooking , to take on the myth of easy weeknight cooking: What it gets wrong, and how to break up with 15-minute recipes that actually take...
Oct 19, 2022•40 min•Season 1Ep. 11
After the cheesy gut bombs of the Reagan era, we’ve arrived at the “hopey changey” era of school lunch. Michelle Obama put school lunch on the front page and ushered in upgraded nutrition standards. But the battles didn’t end there. In this episode, Jane and Liz unwrap the future of school food with concrete tips on how parents can make a difference. Sales and distribution by Lemonada Media See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information....
Oct 05, 2022•27 min•Season 1Ep. 10
For those unfamiliar with the inner workings of the school lunch program, it is puzzling, even maddening: Why is it so hard to offer tasty, nutritious food at school? In this episode, Jane and Liz dig into the history of the school lunch program to unveil how we got to where we are today. It’s a surprisingly twisted tale involving desperate farmers, skittish military generals, shortsighted bean counters, pizza lobbyists, and a network of underground caves…filled with cheese. Sales and distributi...
Sep 21, 2022•30 min•Season 1Ep. 9
On this episode, Liz and Jane talk to Jennifer Anderson, the guru behind Kids Eat in Color, an Instagram account that has become a go-to for literally millions of parents. Anderson is a nutritionist and a mom who is successfully changing the conversation about how to feed kids with tips and tricks for persuading kids to try new foods, right-sized portions, saving money, and how to talk about a balanced diet. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information....
Sep 07, 2022•29 min•Season 1Ep. 8
Hearts. Dinosaurs. Baby Yoda. SpongeBob. The Great American Food System makes chicken nuggets in all these shapes and more. And why not? Our kids eat loads of them. Last year, American families spent more than $200 million on frozen nuggets in novelty shapes. In this episode, Jane and Liz talk to Scott Friedman, whose family invented the dinosaur chicken nugget, and explore why dino nuggets—and all sorts of fun-shaped foods—might deserve a little more respect. Sales and distribution by Lemonada ...
Aug 24, 2022•23 min•Season 1Ep. 7
“It takes a village,” as the saying goes. Well, here’s the ugly flip side of that concept: an episode all about the conflicts that bubble up when other people get involved in feeding our kids. Jane and Liz enlist the help of Carolyn Hax, the Washington Post’s legendary advice columnist, to help solve listeners’ issues with interfering, overbearing, and lackadaisical relatives who make feeding our kids more stressful than it should be. Sales and distribution by Lemonada Media See omnystudio.com/l...
Aug 10, 2022•33 min•Season 1Ep. 6
Half of all parents of young children say they have at least one picky eater in their household: a state of affairs that strikes many moms and dads stuck serving up the same half dozen foods on repeat as highly unnatural. With the help of Jennifer Traig, the author of A ct Natural: A Cultural History of Misadventures in Parenting , Jane and Liz explore when, and why, picky eating emerged as a common trait among children – and what you can do to stop it. This episode is brought to you by Haven's ...
Jul 27, 2022•38 min•Season 1Ep. 5
Brown University economist Emily Oster has emerged as one of today’s hottest parenting gurus, thanks to her ability to cut through the noise and offer sensible ways to interpret conflicting advice on raising small humans. Oster joins Jane and Liz for a deep dive into the flaws and limitations of the research out there on feeding kids, with the goal of helping parents avoid the whiplash of conflicting trends and headlines. This episode of Pressure Cooker is brought to you by Haven's Kitchen and i...
Jul 13, 2022•32 min•Season 1Ep. 4
Four months after a nationwide recall of baby formula, this crucial food remains widely out of stock--and parents remain desperate. In this episode we talk to Katie Kennedy, a mom who drove 800 miles to buy the specialty formula her daughter needs to survive, and to Helena Bottemiller Evich, who did the most definitive reporting into how the crisis occurred–and how it might be resolved. The interviews are both heart-wrenching and sadly instructive on how America treats mothers and children. (Hel...
Jun 29, 2022•37 min•Season 1Ep. 3
Why isn’t my kid eating green beans or zucchini or, for that matter, any food that isn’t beige? It’s a headache for so many parents. One theory holds that, with the help of the right bribe, you can teach kids to like anything. And so Jane dragoons her 10-year-old daughter Lucy into an experiment to see if she can learn to accept her most dreaded food: tomatoes. Jane and Liz talk to Julie Mennella , a taste scientist at the Monell Chemical Senses Center to learn just what it takes to make kids ea...
Jun 15, 2022•28 min•Season 1Ep. 2
You’ve read the headlines: kids who sit down to dinner nightly with their parents are healthier, better adjusted, and less likely to smoke, drink, and abuse drugs. But the reality is that many – if not most – American families struggle to break bread together on a regular basis. Those who do, especially with young children, might find it surprisingly…torturous. Jane and Liz dig into the research to discover whether the link between family dinner and children’s wellbeing is truly so well establis...
Jun 01, 2022•26 min•Season 1Ep. 1
