Author Laurie Woolever On The “Care And Feeding” Of Bourdain, Batali & Herself

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4.6 • 592 Ratings

🗓️ 10 March 2025

⏱️ 51 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Laurie Woolever is a writer and author of the highly anticipated memoir, “Care and Feeding,” which hits shelves tomorrow. Laurie’s book is a deeply personal and unflinching account of her time as an assistant to two towering figures in the food world—Mario Batali, the disgraced celebrity chef, and Anthony Bourdain, the beloved yet complex TV icon and writer. She also shares her own journey, reflecting on how she nearly lost herself in the relentless care and feeding of others. Laurie joins host Kerry Diamond and opens up about the challenges, hard truths, and personal reckoning that shaped her story. It’s an emotional and thought-provoking discussion that touches on power dynamics, toxic workplaces, and resilience. The duo talks about sensitive topics, so please listen with care. For Jubilee 2025 tickets, click here. To get our new Love Issue, click here. Visit cherrybombe.com for subscriptions and show transcripts. More on Laurie: Instagram, “Care and Feeding” memoir More on Kerry: Instagram

Transcript

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0:00.0	Hi, everyone. You're listening to Radio Cherrybaum, and I'm your host, Carrie Diamond,
0:09.9	coming to you from Newsstand Studios at Rockefeller Center in the heart of New York City.
0:15.0	Today's guest is Lori Willever, an old friend of Cherrybombs. Her new memoir, Care and Feeding, will be out tomorrow, and it is one of the
0:23.2	most anticipated food books of the year. In it, Lori shares what it was like being the assistant
0:28.4	to Mario Battali, the disgraced celebrity chef, and later, the assistant to Anthony Bourdain,
0:34.8	the beloved and complicated TV superstar, author, and journalist.
0:39.4	Lori also shares her own story and how she almost lost herself while tending to the care and
0:44.6	feeding of others. She is a terrific writer. I'm so glad she made it through to the other side
0:49.8	and got out from Under the Shadows cast by her former bosses. Before we get started, I want to
0:55.4	flag that we discuss a lot of sensitive topics on today's show. Stay tuned for my interview
1:00.1	with Lori Willever. I want to thank everyone who joined us for our International Women's Day
1:05.3	events in Las Vegas this past weekend. It was wonderful seeing all of you and getting to celebrate
1:10.0	the bomb squad and some of the incredible women on the Las Vegas scene. If you haven't checked out my Las Vegas
1:15.4	podcast miniseries yet, please do. New episodes drop every Wednesday, and I've talked to lots
1:20.8	of cool folks, from burlesque queen and kitchen enthusiast, Dita Vantes, to pop-up baker Kimmy
1:26.8	McIntosh of Milkfish. Thank you to Vegas for
1:30.0	supporting our series. Tonight, I'll be in Raleigh, North Carolina for our latest sit-with-us dinner
1:35.2	in partnership with Open Table at Tamasha, a modern Indian restaurant co-owned by Tina Vora.
1:41.9	I'm also going to record some pods while I'm down in Raleigh, so stay tuned.
1:45.5	You'll hear those interviews later this spring. Lastly, our next big event is Jubilee,
1:51.1	happening Saturday, April 12th in New York City. Be sure to get your tickets before they sell out.
1:56.4	If you're a Cherry Bomb member, check your inbox for special member pricing. You know, it was interesting
	...

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