Our common nature is a musical journey with Yo-Yo Ma and me, Ana Gonzalez, through this complicated country.

We go into caves, onto boats, and up mountain trails to meet people, hear their stories, their poetry, and of course, play some music, all to reconnect to nature and get closer to the things we're missing.

Listen to Our Common Nature from WNYC, wherever you get podcasts.

Hi, it's Lynn Rosetta, Casper, and you're listening to The Splendid Table, the show for people who love to eat.

Our program is produced by American Public Media and supported by Room and Board,

handcrafted furniture for your home at room and board.com.

Well, today we talk with Chris Fair.

Now, she's a political and military analyst with a culinary approach to foreign affairs.

Warm and Fuzzy, this is not.

Her book is, and I love this title, Cuisines of the Axis of Evil and other irritating states,

a dinner party approach to international relations.

We have the favorite food books of England's Food Star, and by the way,

formerly a literary editor of the Sunday Times. I'm talking about Nigella Lawson. Then it's

what makes one restaurant a legend and another one just old. Gourmet's John Willoughby has the

clues and the picks across the country. And as always in the second half of the show, we're going to be opening the lines for your calls.

The number is 800, 537, 5252.

So let's get rolling with Jane and Michael Stern.

They write the Road Food column in Gournay magazine.

Lynn, 25 years ago, if you had asked us what our favorite road food was in the United States, we probably would have said Butler's Donuts in Massachusetts.

We just went back there to their new location, which is in Somerset,

Massachusetts, and I'm thinking it's going back on my top 10 list because never has there

been a more perfect, delicious, pure and wonderful donut that I've ever tasted in the world.

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