"In part one, we interview John Birdsall, the acclaimed food writer who is working on a book about James Beard and specifically Beard's queer identity. Birdsall also opens up about why he made the decision to talk about food in relation to his own gay identity. In part two, we interview people of color at Portland's Pride march; in part three, Soleil talks about how anime helped her understand her own queer identity." Produced by Juan Ramirez and guest producer Jack Saturn. Music by AF the Naysa...
Jul 01, 2017•30 min
RS interviews Pulitzer Prize winning author and USC professor Viet Thanh Nguyen about his new short story collection, what it was like working at his parents' Vietnamese grocery store, and why he doesn't write for white readers. Produced by Juan Ramirez. Music by AF the Naysayer and Blue Dot Sessions. Additional music by Mobb Deep Links du jour You can more information on Viet HERE Follow Viet on Twitter @ viet_t_nguyen...
Jun 21, 2017•32 min
Racist Sandwich covers the recent white supremacist rally in Portland; in part one, we interview people of color at the counter-protest, as well as a Trump supporter and anti-fascist activists; in part two, we cover the fundraiser and tribute for the three heroes who stood up to white supremacy Produced by Zahir Janmohamed and Juan Ramirez. Music by AF the Naysayer and Blue Dot Sessions.
Jun 11, 2017•57 min
Zahir starts off with some thoughts on the recent deadly white supremacist violence in Portland , and talks a bit about his thoughts on Portland in general. The core of this episode is our funny and thoughtful interview with Anh Luu, the chef/owner of Portland's Tapalaya restaurant. Anh talks with us about growing up Viet in New Orleans, working her way up through its kitchens, and the windy road that brought her to Tapalaya. Produced by Juan Ramirez. Music by AF the Naysayer and Blue Dot Sessio...
May 31, 2017•29 min
Katherine Quince interviews Daniela Perez —a mentor gardener based in Portland, Oregon—and chat about the successes and failures of gardening. Also, Soleil sits down and talks to us about what is like to open a restaurant in Puerto Vallarta over an awesome audio diary. Be sure to check out her recently published essay , where J uan gets reminded of an old childhood snack—cacahuates! Produced by Juan Ramirez. Music by AF the Naysayer and Blue Dot Sessions. Additional music by Nujabes, Tupac, and ...
May 18, 2017•29 min
Zahir's mom dishes on Indian food in Tanzania, how she defines fusion food, and why she mischievously leaves out ingredients when people ask her for recipes.
May 14, 2017•17 min
We celebrate our first anniversary by having guest producer Cristina Kim takes us to Oakland, Ca to talk with Wanda Stewart on the joys and challenges of teaching gardening and community farming at Hoover Elementary. Wanda welcomes us into her classroom and opens up about her goal to dismantle the negative connotations many of her students and their parents-- especially from the African American community--have with getting dirty and growing food. In a time where it's hard to know how to best be...
May 03, 2017•28 min
Nick Cho will teach you how to make coffee—we won't say in the "best way," but certainly with way more knowledge and control than you're used to having. While both Zahir and Soleil are probably top-tier coffee ignoramuses, we had a great conversation with Nick about the meaning of specialty coffee and its misconceptions, the work of managing a coffee shop, and how the American coffee industry can improve its internal dialogues about race and identity. Produced by Juan Ramirez. Music by AF the Na...
Apr 19, 2017•31 min
The theme of this episode is food and all the ways people use it to mess with us. Well, it's about a bit more than that, but that's the gist of it. First, Soleil and Zahir chat about the Great Kimchi Incident of 2017 and the high psychological price of getting good chai in Portland. ("How do they drink chai in the Far East, Zahir?") Then Soleil gets on the phone with food writer and British baking genius Ruby Tandoh to discuss her upcoming mental health zine, the toxicity of wellness culture, an...
Apr 06, 2017•31 min
Yasmin Khan's Twitter bio reads: "Challenging stereotypes of the Middle East, one pomegranate at a time." With her new cookbook, "The Saffron Tales," Khan has not only delivered a beautifully written book about Persian food but has also challenged us to think about Persian food in entirely new ways. Khan set out in 2013 to write her book because she was fed up with people in making assumptions that Iran equals bombs, nukes, and fanatics. She wanted to show the texture and the beauty she experien...
Mar 21, 2017•29 min
One in five people in Portland are food insecure, according to the Oregon Food Bank. It's a statistic Darrell Yuen knows well. He spent years fighting hunger, including a stint at the Oregon Food Bank. But in 2016, he called it quits and decided he would fight hunger by starting a restaurant instead. The result is Musubi, a small restaurant in Southeast Portland that serves Hawaii snack food. Darrell contributes a portion of every purchase to combat hunger and he sees his role not as a restaurat...
Mar 08, 2017•30 min
Do you remember our smash hit episode on racial signifiers in food photography featuring photog Celeste Noche? Since episode 14 came out last November, CBC has rerun the episode and Celeste has been interviewed about the subject by Quartz, the BBC, and Mic. And with greater exposure, the trolls have come out from under their bridge, showering Celeste and us with a lot of indignation over us claiming that eating tacos or using chopsticks is racist. (Hint: we never did.) We caught up with Celeste ...
Mar 07, 2017•21 min
In part one, we talk about Soleil's new restaurant Bonito Kitchen in Puerto Vallarta and Zahir's hard hitting investigative journalism about Portland's best shawarma. In part two, Soleil interviews Bani Amor, a queer travel writer, photographer and activist from Brooklyn by way of Ecuador. Amor explores diasporic identities, the decolonization of travel culture, and the intersections of race, place, and power.
Feb 23, 2017•32 min
It was bound to happen someday. Our killer founding producer and editor, Alan Montecillo, is leaving us (and Portland) to work as a producer on the 21st , a news and culture talk show from Illinois Public Media. We always knew his talents and Hufflepuffiness would take him somewhere great, and we're so excited to watch his career progress from afar. In this episode, we say goodbye to Alan and introduce our new producer and editor, Juan Ramirez. Like Alan, Juan is an Oregon Public Broadcasting al...
Feb 09, 2017•48 min
On our twentieth(!) episode, we continue our two-episode-long trend of having individual people share their stories. Maurice Ruffin is a writer and restauranteur in New Orleans. Here, he shares his essay "Talking in New Orleans in the Age of Trump," originally published in Lithub.
Jan 25, 2017•26 min
A new episode is here! We did something a little different. Soleil shares a story of the first time she ever waited tables, and how it changed her life (but also, how it didn't). She told this story at the Holocene in Portland, Oregon back in November. This recording was done by Pamela Santos at KBOO Community Radio. Enjoy! P.S. We're still working out the kinks of recording a remote show, but rest assured we will be back to Peak Audio Quality soon.
Jan 12, 2017•16 min
It's our last show of 2016! Soleil and Zahir (recording remotely for the first time) begin by distracting you from the news with their top five favorite things they ate this year. Then, Zahir interviews Arab-American writer Randa Jarrar , author of the new collection of short stories Him, Me, Muhammad Ali. Randa has a lot of insightful things to say about Palestinian food, growing up in Kuwait during the First Gulf War, body image and what it means to be a fat femme, and much more....
Dec 29, 2016•42 min
We're really excited about this one. Zahir and Alan (don't worry, Soleil will be back on the show soon!) interviewed Hari Kondabolu when he was in Portland. If you're not familiar with Hari and his work, fix your damn life and get on it! We cover a lot of ground in this episode, including: the food at Bowdoin College, calling out racism in the age of Trump, and why Hari doesn't like being described as an "activist comedian." Plus, Hari unpacks an old joke he once told about vegan soul food, and ...
Dec 15, 2016•38 min
How does it feel when your body doesn't fit the definition of "desirable," when no one around you looks the way you look, when taking up space seems like an insult toward the people around you? For this episode, we wanted to consider these questions in the context of eating disorders and how living in a racialized body complicates the mainstream narrative of who gets them. Our guest, Portland-based pop-up chef and caterer Salimatu Amabebe , was kind enough to speak with us about her experience w...
Dec 01, 2016•43 min
We've launched another crowdfunder ! Instead of talking about why you should open your wallet for us, Alan collected three of his favorite clips from our podcast. P.S. On this holiday, please also consider giving to the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe .
Nov 24, 2016•11 min
In this episode, we interview Buzzfeed Books Editor Isaac Fitzgerald about his new book, Knives & Ink: Chefs and the Stories Behind Their Tattoos . The book, which features beautiful illustrations by Wendy Macnaughton, is out now. Isaac and Soleil share tattoo stories, both of which you don't want to miss. In addition to talking about the book, we grill Isaac on what it takes to be a good ally and gatekeeper in the publishing industry, which is so very homogenous We also have a few big annou...
Nov 17, 2016•45 min
We needed to turn off social media and talk out our post-Election Day feelings. If you want to let us know how you're doing, leave us a voicemail at (971) 800-1389, or email us at racistsandwichpodcast@gmail.com
Nov 10, 2016•29 min
Food photography is just about showcasing food...right? In this episode, we talk with freelance photographer Celeste Noche about how an art as "neutral" as modern food photography can actually be loaded with signifiers of race, gender, and class. We discuss the strange positioning of chopsticks in photos of Asian food, the slow trickling down of the Kinfolk aesthetic, and all the things we lose when we divorce food from its cultural context.
Nov 02, 2016•32 min
Episode 13 is here! Charley Wang, the CEO of Josephine, an up-and-coming food tech company, explains how his version of the sharing economy can bolster home cooking, empower small-scale entrepreneurs, and combat gentrification. He believes that food tech can do more than simply provide a product in an ultra-convenient and commodified way, and that there's room for food justice and labor rights, too. This is a sprawling and fascinating conversation about food justice, the tech world, empathy, and...
Oct 19, 2016•40 min
On this episode, we talked with food writer and cookbook author Nicole Taylor about popularity of Southern food, and its roots in black history that are often erased in a trend-driven food landscape. We also delve into the homogeneity of food media itself, by talking through actionable steps we need in order to move the race and food conversation forward.
Oct 05, 2016•34 min
Or, #NeverPhogetNeverPhogive! Soleil embarked on our first OFF-SITE INTERVIEW and caught up with comedian and writer Jenny Yang this past weekend. She produced and starred in "PBJ is the New Grilled Cheese," a brilliant send-up of that pho video that everyone's been talking about. (AKA the food media's regularly scheduled announcement that they don't give a fuck about us!) Soleil and Jenny talk about community, staying in touch with one's culture, and what it means to respond to racism with art.
Sep 21, 2016•46 min
For our tenth(!) episode, we talked with Abel Hernandez and Jaime Saltero. They are, respectively, the head chef and owner of Tamale Boy in Portland, Oregon. Abel and Jaime shared their stories about starting their restaurant, designing the space, and making dishes that break American stereotypes about Mexican cuisine. They also dropped some serious knowledge about the history of the tamale, and its close link with indigenous cultures in Mexico.
Sep 08, 2016•33 min
Anyone in Portland can tell you that we've been experiencing a huge increase in restaurants and bars this year. What we sought to find out in this episode was whether that same increase has meant more opportunities and financial stability for food service workers—the people who form the backbone of our growing service economy.
Aug 25, 2016•32 min
On this episode, we explore food from a slightly different angle. We talked with Amy Lam, associate editor at BITCH Magazine and co-founder of the group "Portland Creatives of Color" — which is the reason why we met and started this podcast in the first place. Amy talked to us about her relationship with food, and how the gendered expectations she was raised with shaped the way she sees cooking. From there, all three of us share what it means to be writers and children of immigrants at the same ...
Aug 10, 2016•34 min
For our Filipino food episode [E7], we asked our listeners to call in to our Google voice number to talk to us about their relationships with Filipino food. And y'all really rose to the occasion! We got a lot of voicemails, so we put our favorite ones together. The messages form a really beautiful narrative about the cuisine and the place it has in people's hearts; one that we think everyone can relate to in some way.
Jul 28, 2016•9 min
