Padma Lakshmi’s Low-Key Subversive Food Show
Notes from America with Kai Wright
WNYC Studios
4.4 • 1.5K Ratings
🗓️ 1 June 2023
⏱️ 19 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Kai’s a legit fanboy of Padma. One reason why: She explores who we are …through what we eat. So Kai gets her on the mic to ask what food can tell us about the American immigrant story. You’ll hear from:
- Padma Lakshmi, Host of Hulu’s Taste the Nation & Bravo’s Top Shelf
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“Notes from America” airs live on Sunday evenings at 6pm ET. The podcast episodes are lightly edited from our live broadcasts. Tune into the show on Sunday nights via the stream on notesfromamerica.org or on WNYC’s YouTube channel.
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | It's notes from America, I'm Kai Wright, and I am a great big fanboy of Padma Lakshmi. |
| 0:10.9 | To most of her fans, she's a host of Top Chef, the long-running and very popular reality |
| 0:16.7 | cooking show. |
| 0:18.0 | To me, she's the creator and host of Taste the Nation, which recently dropped its second |
| 0:22.9 | season on Hulu. |
| 0:24.8 | She states the show's mission in the opening credits when she introduces herself. |
| 0:29.2 | I came to America when I was four, I'm an immigrant, and I'm not alone. |
| 0:34.3 | And she poses a slightly provocative question. |
| 0:37.5 | What exactly is American food? |
| 0:40.4 | And what makes us American? |
| 0:42.3 | This is not only a food show. |
| 0:44.2 | Come with me, as we taste the nation. |
| 0:48.6 | Quite frankly, Padma Lakshmi seems to have a mission with this show that's not too different |
| 0:53.6 | from the one I've got for notes from America. |
| 0:56.6 | And I've long wanted to talk to her about this. |
| 1:00.0 | I finally got the chance to do this recently, and our conversation maybe got off to a little |
| 1:05.2 | awkward start when I over-shared just a little. |
| 1:09.5 | So I have to start off with a couple of confessions, one in my household. |
| 1:19.4 | You have quite an intimate presence. |
| 1:23.4 | The thing that my boyfriend and I do together is sit and hang out with you and taste the nation. |
| 1:29.6 | But I have to tell you, I have never seen an episode of Top Chef. |
| 1:33.9 | Really? |
... |
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