Your Last Meal with Rachel Belle

The only thing Grammy-nominated musician Neko Case craves more than crisp-on-the-outside, fluffy-on-the-inside popovers is Hungarian food from a 61-year-old restaurant in Ohio. Neko tells host Rachel Belle about her favorite Eastern European dishes and how eating at The Balaton helped her reconnect with her long-lost heritage.  

But back to popovers! We’re joined by a pastry chef who baked thousands of popovers every day, five days a week, for five years at Acadia National Park’s Jordan Pond House, the popover epicenter of the United States. Sign up for Rachel’s The Nosh Newsletter to get her recipe...

This week on The Leftovers, never-before-heard audio from Jonathan Russell, vocalist, guitarist and founding member of the band The Head and the Heart. 

In this week’s lightning round, Jonathan talks about the joy of picking up the tab, what back-up dish he often brings to holiday meals (just in case he doesn’t like the version the hosts made!) and what he loves to cook when he returns home from tour. 

Listen to the full episode of Your Last Meal with Jonathan Russell here. 

Become a Cascade PBS member and support public media! ...

Jonathan Russell is one of the founding members (vocals, guitar) of The Head and the Heart, a band that organically formed at weekly open-mic nights at Seattle’s Conor Byrne Pub.  

Russell didn’t grow up with happy memories around the dinner table. He tells host Rachel Belle about his natural inclination to eat alone, why a crab boil is the perfect meal for an introvert and how working in bars and restaurants changed the way he orders.  

Rachel’s friend, Roz Ray, joins the show to share her best party strategies for shy and introver...

This week on The Leftovers, never-before-heard audio from Alice Waters, award winning chef, creator of the iconic 54-year-old restaurant Chez Panisse in Berkeley California, food activist and author of the new cookbook, “A School Lunch Revolution.” 

In this week’s lightning round, Alice talks about a memorable school lunch from her own childhood, her signature holiday dish, and her favorite comfort food, as someone who eats extremely healthfully, local and organic.  

Listen to the full episode of Your Last Meal with Alice Waters here!

Become a Cascade PBS member and support public media!  

Watc...

Alice Waters opened her iconic Berkeley, California restaurant Chez Panisse 54 years ago, introducing the concept of farm-to-table eating to Americans and only serving local, seasonal produce at peak ripeness. She’s also a food activist, and through The Edible Schoolyard Project, has spent the past 30 years showing schools how to integrate locally farmed, organic produce into their cafeterias. 

On today’s episode, Alice shares two life-changing experiences that inspired her to open her restaurant; what diners thought about being served two figs for dessert in Chez Panisse’s early days; how schools can afford to serve kids farm fr...

This week on The Leftovers, never-before-heard audio from chef and best-selling cookbook author Gaby Dalkin, who's known online and on social as What’s Gaby Cooking. 

In this week’s lightning round, Gaby and host Rachel Belle bond over their favorite childhood birthday cake, Gaby shares the late-night, stand-over-the-sink snack she’d never put in a cookbook, and surprises Rachel with her answer to the question, “What do you wish people would ask you about in interviews, that’s not related to food?”  

Earlier this month, at Seattle’s Town Hall, Rachel Belle was a guest on a sold-out, live taping of Seattle Eats with host Tan Vinh, the award-winning food and drink writer for The Seattle Times. Bestselling cookbook author and chef, J. Kenji Lopez-Alt was also a guest!

The first segment of the show is dedicated to Thanksgiving: we learn about a local sushi chef’s recipe for teriyaki turkey, how green bean casserole factors into Tan’s immigrant story, and why Rachel has fond Thanksgiving memories of KFC and Celine Dion.  Then Tan asks Rachel and Kenji about t...

Best known to her millions of followers as What’s Gaby Cooking, the Los Angeles-area chef is a best-selling cookbook author, creator of the Dalkin & Co spice blend line and you can eat her food at Gaby’s in Neighborly food hall.  

Gaby tells Rachel Belle how she went from being a tragically picky eater to having a career as a chef, shares which celebrity she private cheffed for, and the dish that literally broke her website when said celebrity gushed over it on a late-night talk show.  

Gaby wants to cook and enjoy her last mea...

Prolific, five-time James Beard Award-winning cookbook author Dorie Greenspan is the queen of sweets, and she just released her 15th cookbook, Dorie’s Anytime Cakes. 

Famous for her beloved World Peace Cookies and many baking books, including one she wrote with Julia Child, it's not surprising that Dorie wants to start and end her last meal with dessert. What's wrong with eating dessert first, anyway? Rachel chats with Ayurvedic counselor Jodi Boone about the life-bettering benefits of starting your meal with sweets.  

And when Dorie told Rachel she ate the same exact lunch every single day for y...

Comedian Atsuko Okatsuka’s last meal, and the reason why she sometimes carries cooked scallops in her bag, trace back to her unstable, unpredictable childhood. She talks about being kidnapped by her grandmother and why a gluten-free spaghetti dinner brings her comfort, even as someone who doesn’t have a gluten sensitivity. 

Atsuko’s first foray into entertainment was working at an ice cream chain that made employees sing and dance for tips. Atsuko loved it, but host Rachel Belle interviews two other folks who had no idea they had to perform at their restaurant jobs, until they sa...

Comedian Atsuko Okatsuka’s last meal, and the reason why she sometimes carries cooked scallops in her bag, trace back to her unstable, unpredictable childhood. She talks about being kidnapped by her grandmother and why a gluten-free spaghetti dinner brings her comfort, even as someone who doesn’t have a gluten sensitivity. 

Atsuko’s first foray into entertainment was working at an ice cream chain that made employees sing and dance for tips. Atsuko loved it, but host Rachel Belle interviews two other folks who had no idea they had to perform at their restaurant jobs, until they sa...

This week on The Leftovers, never-before-heard audio from rapper Rico Nasty, who is on tour now with her latest album, Lethal!

In a lightning round, Rico Nasty tells host Rachel Belle about her first concert, and how embarrassing it was to attend with her mom, her ideal 'girl dinner,' her top five favorite things to buy at Trader Joe's and her favorite hiking snacks. 

Sweet and boisterous, rapper Rico Nasty professes her love for making music; cooking for the people she adores most; and her grandmas, all while promoting her new album, Lethal. Her conversation with host Rachel Belle bounces from Maryland boardwalk fries (we’ll tell you what they are!) to Taco Bell (we learn what the Cinnamon Twists are made from) to a popular Puerto Rican party snack her grandma makes her, and only her, as a treat. 

Did you know those little strawberry candies, the ones with the cute strawberry-print wrapper and squishy center, most often found in gra...

This week on The Leftovers, never-before-heard audio from Tilly Ramsay, host of the new Amazon Prime show, Dish It Out. She also happens to be the only one of Gordon Ramsay's six children who's pursued a culinary career.

A recent graduate of both university and culinary school, Tilly gives advice to young people looking to build their first kitchen and shares a dish she loves making for friends. And she talks about what family meals were like growing up, having a celebrity chef for a dad and a cookbook author for a mum.  

Yes, food TV host Tilly Ramsay is the daughter of famed chef and TV host Gordan Ramsay, but she is working hard to pave her own way! Tilly recently graduated from culinary school, which she paid for herself, thank you very much, and she tells me about her fateful first day of school, where she was faced with eating her three least favorite foods.  

Host Rachel Belle asks Tilly the elephant-in-the-room question: Does her dad shout at his family like he shouts at TV contestants? And Tilly explains why a classic Sunday roast is so special to th...

This week on The Leftovers, never-before-heard audio from Italian singer Matteo Bocelli! 

In a lightning round with host Rachel Belle, Matteo, a self-described romantic, shares which celebrity wedding he had the honor of singing at earlier this summer; sets the record straight on what bruschetta really is; and discloses the only dish his dad – famed singer Andrea Bocelli – has ever cooked for him (and why most Italians would be angry with the way he makes it). 

Like any card-carrying Italian worth his focaccia, singer Matteo Bocelli says he could eat pasta for breakfast, lunch and dinner! From his home in Tuscany, Matteo tells host Rachel Belle about the super-simple, but deeply delicious, sauce recipe he’s been trying to perfect, inspired by a three-Michelin-star restaurant, and why you should always choose Italian pasta made from ancient grains. 

You’ve probably heard the tales: A gluten-sensitive American travels to Italy or France, and can magically stuff their face with croissants, baguettes and pasta without any negative consequences. Rachel asks Dr. Alessio Fasano, professor of nutri...

This week on The Leftovers, never-before-heard audio from Congresswoman Pramila Jayapal, the U.S. Representative from Washington’s 7th congressional district. 

Representative Jayapal is almost as passionate about food as she is about immigrant rights, universal health care and income equality. Almost! And in this quick lightning round with host Rachel Belle, recorded live at the Cascade PBS Ideas Festival earlier this summer, she shares her favorite Seattle restaurants and what dessert makes her the happiest on her birthday.  

Listen to last week's full episode with Pramila Jayapal!

On this very special LIVE episode, recorded at The Cascade PBS Ideas Festival on May 31, 2025, host Rachel Belle sits down with Congresswoman Pramila Jayapal, who represents Washington’s 7th District. She’s also the first elected official to be a guest on Your Last Meal! 

Congresswoman Jayapal is an activist and fierce advocate of immigrant rights, but she was thrilled to (mostly) take a break from talking politics to chat about one of her favorite topics: food!  

She talks about what it was like immigrating to the United States on her own at 16, what she though...

This week on The Leftovers, never-before-heard audio from Isaac Brock — lead singer, guitarist and songwriter of the Portland, Oregon-based band Modest Mouse! 

Isaac tells Rachel Belle about the time Modest Mouse got to collaborate with an ice-cream company on a flavor that ... wasn’t so well received; he talks about the first concert he went to; and Rachel and Isaac bond over their love of milkshakes. 

Modest Mouse’s lead singer, guitarist and songwriter has one of the longest, and most disjointed, last meals in Your Last Meal history, but each dish draws from a lifetime of experiences and memories. 

A lover of culinary highs and lows, Isaac wants both traditional Japanese ramen and Top Ramen for his last meal, something he ate a lot of in his younger years. We’ll learn the history of instant noodles with Andrea Wang, author of the children’s book Magic Ramen: The Story of Momofuku Ando. 

Isaac tells host Rachel Belle about the bar he u...

This week on The Leftovers, never-before-heard audio from Bridget Everett, star of the HBO Max show Somebody Somewhere, singer, comedian and cabaret performer.  

In this fast and fun lightning round, Bridget sends host Rachel Belle into a spiral of jealousy by revealing her go-to New York City grocery store; struggles to pronounce the name of her favorite cake (Rachel can’t pronounce it either!); and together they discuss a Midwestern delicacy: St. Louis sushi, which is nothing like its Japanese namesake.  

Bridget Everett’s last meal takes us to New Orleans’ second oldest restaurant, where Creole and Italian cooking collide into a cuisine called (you guessed it) Italian Creole! The owner of Pascal’s Manale, Dickie Brennan, joins the show to talk about the special menu and the restaurant’s long history.  

Bridget performed her delightfully raunchy cabaret act for years before landing the lead role on HBO Max’s Somebody Somewhere (and she still performs it!), but she made a living working in restaurants. We talk about the highs and lows of her 30-year restaurant career, and when she wa...

This week on The Leftovers, never-before-heard audio from actor Jeff Hiller (Somebody Somewhere), author of the new memoir Actress of a Certain Age: My Twenty-Year Trail to Overnight Success.  

Jeff talks about visiting the real-life cafes featured in Somebody Somewhere, what he thinks of the Swedish food he grew up eating and why he never ever throws a dinner party. 

Listen to Jeff Hiller on Your Last Meal!

If you fell in love with Jeff Hiller’s character Joel on Somebody, Somewhere (he was just nominated for his first Emmy for his performance!), you’ll want to pick up his new memoir, Actress of a Certain Age: My Twenty-Year Trail to Overnight Success. 

Jeff tells host Rachel Belle how he got his big break, his first role on a TV show at age 45 after 20 years of auditions, and why his childhood ambitions of becoming a pastor were dashed.  

Jeff loves eating in restaurants; he’d eat out every night if his husband would let him. S...

This week on The Leftovers, never-before-heard audio from Grammy-nominated singer, songwriter and pianist Regina Spektor! 

Regina grew up in the Soviet Union, moving to the United States when she was 10, and many of her eating experiences are colored by her young life in Russia — including the desserts she likes! Regina tells host Rachel Belle which foods she’d choose over a birthday cake, why she woke up at 3 a.m. to house a container of chopped liver (when she was a vegetarian!) and her thoughts on karaoke. 

Listen to Regina Spektor's full Your Last Meal episod...

Grammy-nominated singer, songwriter and pianist Regina Spektor grew up in Soviet Russia, so when she moved to the Bronx with her family in 1990, American food was a bit of a culture shock. Cereal! Oranges! Chocolate pudding cups! It was all brand-new! Regina shares a handful of her family’s immigration eating stories.  

When in doubt, order the soup! That’s what Regina does. She tells host Rachel Belle about her (nearly) lifelong love of soup, what caused her to rebel against it in high school and why the simplest of broths would be her last meal.  

Cookbo...

This week on The Leftovers, never-before-heard audio from Dave Barry, award-winning humorist, columnist and author.  

Dave tells host Rachel Belle about the all-author band he’s been in for 30 years (that includes Stephen King!), what food he finds the funniest and why he hates lightning rounds (the entire episode is a lightning round!)  

Listen to Dave’s Your Last Meal episode from last week! 

Dave Barry wrote a nationally syndicated, Pulitzer Prize-winning column that appeared in 500 newspapers from 1983 to 2005 and has published dozens of books. His newest is his very first memoir: Class Clown: The Memoirs of a Professional Wiseass. How I Went 77 Years Without Growing Up. 

Case in point: Dave really loves ketchup! He’s also very opinionated about it: where he stores it and what vessel it is delivered in. Spoiler alert: He keeps his ketchup on the counter. Food safety expert Angela Anandappa, executive director of Alliance for Advanced Sanitation, joins the show to tell us which condiments belo...

This week on The Leftovers, never-before-heard audio from Molly Yeh, star of Girl Meets Farm on Food Network & bestselling cookbook author. Her latest is a book of desserts called Sweet Farm. 

Molly bakes beautiful cakes for everybody’s birthdays, but what treat does she request when celebrating her own? I'll bet you a thousand brownies that you’ll never guess! Molly says there is one kitchen tool that will vastly improve your bakes, something all professionals use, but which many home bakers still haven’t come around to. And she tells host Rachel Belle what inspired her to open...

Molly Yeh is the Emmy- and James Beard Award-nominated star of Girl Meets Farm on the Food Network; owner of Bernie’s, a bakery and cafe in East Grand Forks, Minnesota; and a bestselling cookbook author. Her new cookbook is Sweet Farm, 100 dessert recipes that feature oh-so-Molly flavors like tahini, marzipan, hawaij and halva, plus a whole chapter devoted to Midwestern cookie salads!

Molly tells host Rachel Belle how her relationship to sprinkles has changed as she’s gotten older; how she, a Juilliard graduate with a degree in percussion, ended up living on a sugar-beet farm on t...

This week on The Leftovers, never-before-heard audio from Prabal Gurung, celebrated fashion designer and author of the new memoir Walk Like a Girl. 

Prabal has made a habit of ordering a cheeseburger and fries in every city he visits – he tells host Rachel Belle who makes the best burger in the world. He recalls the magical celebrity sighting he had the first time he went to a restaurant in New York City after moving there from Nepal, and he talks about what he would pack to eat on weeks-long treks in the Nepalese mountains. 

Watch Rach...

Prabal Gurung’s new memoir, Walk Like a Girl, tells his life story: how he went from being a bullied queer boy in Nepal who was always an outsider to starting his own label in New York City, designing gowns for First Lady Michelle Obama, Vice President Kamala Harris and Oprah Winfrey. 

Prabal says he loves all kinds of food, but he is OBSESSED with momos, the steamed dumplings from his home country. He tells host Rachel Belle why they're so special to him and which A-list celebrity asked him to take her out for her first mom...

This week on The Leftovers, never-before-heard audio from W. Kamau Bell, Emmy- and Peabody-nominated TV host, comedian, filmmaker and best-selling author.  

Kamau tells host Rachel Belle about the delightfully different flavor of attention that came with winning Celebrity Jeopardy; how rare it is to find his favorite kind of burrito in California’s Bay Area, a region famous for burritos; and how losing a family member means he’ll never taste his favorite birthday cake again. 

Listen to last week's episode of Your Last Meal with W. Kamau Bell!

Watch Rachel’s Cascade PBS TV s...

Kamau Bell has a long and impressive resume, including hosting seven seasons of the CNN docuseries United Shades of America, winning a Peabody Award for We Need to Talk About Cosby, and winning the third season of Celebrity Jeopardy, and he’s about to take off on his “Who’s With Me” standup tour.

Kamau wore a T-shirt on TV that read, “Not All Macaroni and Cheeses are Created Equal,” a political message and “insider Black conversation” that he explains to host Rachel Belle. We’ll also learn the true history of mac & cheese in America, a narrative that took...

This week on The Leftovers, never-before-heard audio from musician and actor Sharon Van Etten, who is on the road touring her new album now! 

An educated wine lover, Sharon tells host Rachel Belle which bottle best represents her personality and which countries are often left out of the conversation when we talk about fantastic wines. Nicknamed “Snacks” by her bandmates, she reveals what she loves to nibble on when she’s on a road trip, on an airplane, hanging with her son or late at night, starving after performing a show.  

Listen to Sharon on last wee...

Sharon Van Etten is on the road now touring her seventh album, Sharon Van Etten & The Attachment Theory. But as much as she loves writing and performing music, she has considered a couple different career paths: therapist and sommelier!

Sharon’s love of wine started in high school, when she was an exchange student living with a family in Spain. So host Rachel Belle interviews the founders of Open That Bottle Night, a couple of former Wall Street Journal wine writers who created an annual holiday to encourage people to open the special bottles of wine that no...

This week on The Leftovers, never-before-heard audio from Tony-, Emmy- and Grammy-nominated singer and actor Josh Groban.  

Josh is getting ready for a string of shows in Las Vegas, so host Rachel Belle presents him with the most ridiculous, over-the-top, calorie-packed dishes she could find on Vegas menus (obviously Guy Fieri is involved) and asks him to pick which ones he'd eat.  

Josh and Rachel bond over a childhood love of New Kids on the Block, and he admits to loving a very trendy Los Angeles treat from a very trendy Los Angeles market (that he i...

Is Josh Groban’s best song about baked beans? 

Two foods Josh Groban’s dad turned him onto as a child: pickled and smoked fish and baked beans. So when Bush’s asked Josh to write them a commercial jingle, he took it a step further and composed a semi-autographical baked-bean power ballad! He tells host Rachel Belle the whole story.  

Josh learned to cook during the pandemic and developed a soft spot for ugly, misshapen farm produce. So Seattle chef Becky Selengut joins the show to talk about her cookbook Misunderstood Vegetables. Becky wrote it after...

This week on The Leftovers, never-before-heard audio from Danielle Chang, host of Lucky Chow on PBS. And Rachel Belle takes a very special field trip to Seattle’s Mixed Pantry, a beautifully curated specialty foods shop that exclusively sells Asian and Asian American-made products.  

On last week’s episode of Your Last Meal, Danielle told Rachel she never goes anywhere without a little vial of high-quality soy sauce in her purse. 

So Rachel popped into Mixed Pantry for a soy sauce tasting, a fun activity open to anyone who visits. The shop sells soy sauces from s...

PBS's "Lucky Chow" host, Danielle Chang, has been using food as a tool to promote diversity since her family immigrated from Taiwan to Texas when she was 5, and she eventually turned it into a career!

Danielle tells host Rachel Belle which condiment she always keeps in her bag and Your Last Meal listeners call in to confess what flavor enhancers they have sneaked into restaurants, movie theaters and doughnut shops over the years.

First Beyoncé sang about having hot sauce in her bag, then Hillary Clinton talked about her spicy stash on the campaign trail. Bu...

This week on The Leftovers, never-before-heard audio from China Forbes and Timothy Nishimoto from Pink Martini! The Portland, Oregon-based band is taking off on tour this week to celebrate its 30th anniversary. Get tickets here!

China and Timothy reveal their perfect birthday cakes, the countries they most enjoy eating in when they’re traveling the world, and what foods they can’t wait to eat when they get back home.

Listen to last week’s Your Last Meal episode with Pink Martini!

Watch Rachel’s Cascade PBS TV show The Nosh with Rachel Belle! S...

Pink Martini is celebrating 30 years of global music, and for the band’s pearl anniversary, China Forbes and Timothy Nishimoto dish on oysters (get it?!), the group’s unusual origin story and Thanksgiving dinner.

It may be March, but thanks to lead vocalist China Forbes’ last meal, we’re talking turkey! China is very particular about which seven dishes should appear on her Thanksgiving table, so host Rachel Belle consults with a food historian about what was eaten at the very first harvest feast.

Pink Martini is a Portland, Oregon-based band, but they sing in 30 language...

From pear & blue cheese to bone marrow with bourbon smoked cherries, Salt & Straw has always been experimental, and eager to weave local products and ingredients into their flavors. On this delightful episode, we hear how the highly successful brand got started (the story involves Portlandia, an ice-cream maker from Goodwill and Cheetos), the grossest flavor head ice-cream maker Tyler ever developed and, of course, their last meals – both chose sentimental dishes made by their Grandma Malek.

Speaking of grannies, we’ll meet the owner of Enoteca Maria, a Staten Island restaurant where the food is cooked by a ro...

This week on The Leftovers, never-before-heard audio from Nadia Caterina Munno, known to her 10 million social-media followers as The Pasta Queen, which also happens to be the name of her new Amazon Prime Italian cooking and travel show. 

On this bite-sized episode, Nadia reveals her all-time favorite pasta shape, how many times she's been to The Olive Garden and the Roman dish she thinks all Americans should be eating. 

Subscribe to Your Last Meal on Apple Podcasts or Spotify or YouTube.

Sign up for Rachel's new (free!) Cascade PBS newsletter for more food mu...

Nadia Catarina Munno is best known to her 10 million social-media followers as The Pasta Queen, a glamorous, dramatic Italian who crumples her face in ecstasy and throws her fork across the room after slurping up a sauce-slicked noodle. Cooking traditional pasta dishes in her Florida kitchen has earned Nadia two bestselling cookbooks and a new Amazon Prime series, The Pasta Queen.

Nadia says she sees a lot of Americans committing unforgivable pasta-cooking crimes, so she created The 10 Commandments of Pasta, a list she shares with host Rachel Belle along with a story about what she ate immediately...

This week on The Leftovers, never-before-heard audio from singer/songwriter Kevin Morby.  

Kevin grew up in Kansas, and after 15 years of building a successful music career living in the coast’s largest cities, he has returned to his hometown. He tells host Rachel Belle why living in the Midwest can spark creativity, what Kansas City meal should be as famous as its legendary BBQ, and what he and his girlfriend (the musician, Waxahatchee) always eat when they return home from a long tour.  

Listen to Kevin on Your Last Meal.

Subscribe to Your Last...

Singer/songwriter Kevin Morby is a peanut butter and jelly man. Like most kids who grew up in the U.S. before peanut-allergy-mania, he loves the classic lunchbox version. But as an adult he’s taken to adding some very unorthodox ingredients like ... scrambled or fried eggs! In this economy?! 

You know who else eats a TON of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches? NFL players! Actually, they eat a ton of Uncrustables, and there is data to prove it. Host Rachel Belle interviews the co-creator of Uncrustables to unpack why the world needed a premade PB&J. 

This week on The Leftovers, never-before-heard audio from TV host, chef and author Alton Brown. 

Alton famously loathes single-use gadgets, but the one he despises most still has a home in his kitchen drawer. He tells us why. And he shares how he developed a deep love for Jewish deli food as a kid growing up in 1970s Georgia.

Seattle chef and restaurateur Tom Douglas joins the show to talk about his special relationship with his late mother's 70 year old stove. And Allen Salkin, author of The Uncensored History of the Food Network tells a ju...

Alton Brown hosted Good Eats on the Food Network for 16 seasons, and says Julia Child, Mr. Wizard and Monty Python were his inspirations for the wacky, science-driven TV show he created. He just released his 10th book, Food for Thought: Essays and Ruminations.  

Alton famously despises single-use gadgets, but he tells host Rachel Belle about the one item that must be present in every kitchen. He talks about why he is not worried about ChatGPT taking his job as a recipe developer, and admits that his wife Elizabeth, an interior designer, is a far more talented cook t...

This week on The Leftovers, never-before-heard audio from comedian Paula Poundstone!

If you listened to last week's episode of Your Last Meal, you know Paula has a serious sweet tooth, from the Ring Dings she wants for her last meal to the sugar packets she used to eat for dessert. 

Same holds true in this episode where Paula shares her perfect birthday cake, the same one she's adored since childhood, and her very unexpected favorite holiday meal. Hint: it comes in "fun size."

Follow along on Instagram!

Watch Rachel’s Cascade PBS...

Veteran comedian Paula Poundstone loves Ring Dings, her favorite little chocolate snack cakes only sold in a handful of East Coast states. She once told a very skeptical Michael Pollan, on NPR's Wait Wait...Don't Tell Me!, that they are her reason for living. 

So host Rachel Belle interviews the pastry chef/owner of The Ring Ding Bar in New York City, a bakery that’s recreated the confection with “real ingredients” in 25 flavors.  

Paula talks about how she lived on a Greyhound bus in the 80s, when she didn’t have enough money for motels, wh...

This week on The Leftovers, never-before-heard audio from Ani DiFranco, singer/songwriter, activist and feminist icon.

Ani started her own record company in 1989, put out her first record in 1990 and just released her 23rd album. But what do her two school-aged children think about her music? She will discuss!

Plus she shares her family’s boozy holiday traditions, and reveals what is no longer on her rider.

Subscribe to Your Last Meal on Apple Podcasts or Spotify or YouTube.

Follow along on Instagram!

Order Rachel’s brand-new cookbook Open Sesa...

If you listened to the Grammy-winning singer/songwriter in the ’90s, she wants you to know she’s still making music: Ani DiFranco just released her 23rd album!

Ani is known for lyrics that explore politics, social justice and feminism, but in real life she is smiley, friendly and down-to-earth – not the “angry feminist” she was often mislabeled as.

Ani grew up in Buffalo, New York, where she was tasked with cooking dinner for her family starting at age 9. Today she enjoys cooking for her own family in New Orleans – a soothing ritual that balances the crazines...

Host Rachel Belle celebrated the launch of Open Sesame at Book Larder, Seattle's only dedicated cookbook store. The event sold out, but you can listen in!

Rachel is usually the one asking the questions, but on November 13 the tables were turned! She was in conversation with Becky Selengut, a beloved Seattle cookbook author, cooking instructor, podcast host and chef. 

Rachel tells the magical story of how she was offered a book deal (despite having a small social media presence!), a reminder of the importance of building in-person, real-life professional relationships. She tells Becky what it w...

This week on The Leftovers, never-before-heard audio from Jonathan Van Ness and Tan France, two of the stars of the popular Netflix show Queer Eye. 

Last week on Your Last Meal, Tan said his love language is cooking for the people he loves. So just imagine the fight that breaks out in this episode when Tan tells JVN he’ll bring him take-out instead of a homecooked meal! 

Tan and JVN reveal their favorite city to eat in and Jonathan, an avid home farmer, gives us a report on what’s growing in his garden.  

Lis...

Queer Eye Season 9 just dropped on Netflix, and Jonathan Van Ness (beauty expert), Tan France (fashion expert) and the rest of The Fab Five are back to make over folks who have big hearts but need lots of help in the self-care department. 

This episode is chock full of big energy and big personalities – so much so that host Rachel Belle hardly had to lift a finger as the buddies interviewed, complimented and lovingly roasted each other!  

British-born-and-raised Tan talks about his first-ever magical visit to Olive Garden and what he thinks of the food in U...

This week on The Leftovers, never-before-heard audio from Al Roker, longtime weather presenter and co-anchor of NBC’s Today. Al and his chef daughter Courtney Roker Laga just released a cookbook called Al Roker’s Recipes to Live By – Easy, Memory-Making Family Dishes for Every Occasion.

Al tells me about the strangest recipe in the cookbook (hint: It involves fish + breakfast cereal), which of his recipes Henry Winkler is obsessed with & his opinion on leftovers. Also: When is the perfect time to show up for a party?

Listen to Al Roker’s full episode of YLM 

Longtime Today show weatherman and anchor, Al Roker, just released a cookbook of family recipes with his chef daughter called Al Roker’s Recipes to Live By...but it took some convincing.

When Courtney Roker Laga asked her dad if he wanted to write a cookbook together, he knew his answer immediately: No thanks! Fifty years into a busy career, Al wrote a couple cookbooks years ago and knows how much work goes into them. But finally, they made a deal: Al would write the headnotes if Courtney develops and tests all the recipes.

Al te...

This week on The Leftovers, never-before-heard audio from Portland, Oregon, novelist Chuck Palahniuk, author of Fight Club and nearly 20 other books, including his new novel Shock Induction.  

Chuck tells host Rachel Belle about his family’s favorite processed food gimmicks from the ’70s, who his dream dinner party guests are, and his favorite Portland restaurant. Spoiler: He says the food is terrible (So Chuck!).

Plus, learn the creation story of the iconic Thanksgiving side dish, green bean casserole.

Listen to Chuck on Your Last Meal!

Subscribe to Your Last Meal on Apple...

Chuck Palahniuk is best known for his novel-turned-cult-classic-film Fight Club, but the prolific author has published a book nearly every year for the past two decades. His newest is called Shock Induction. 

Chuck tells host Rachel Belle about the recipes fans have sent him from prison (and which he’s made!), why he can hardly look at a peach, let alone eat one, and why his mouth waters at the mere thought of a crusty, stale Hostess snack cake.  

Chuck’s mom was not a great cook, but she was excellent at frosting cakes, specifically the Barb...

This week on The Leftovers, never-before-heard audio from Ken Burns, the prolific, award-winning filmmaker who has been making historical documentary films for PBS for more than 40 years. 

Ken lost his mother when he was just 11 years old, a tragic event that has shaped both his personal life and career; in last week’s episode of Your Last Meal he said his mother’s death is what led him to filmmaking. She also shaped his taste in food. Ken shares his favorite dessert, one his mother made for his birthday when he was a child. 

Ken shares...

For the past 50 years, Ken Burns has written, directed and produced historical films on a wide variety of topics, from country music and baseball to the Vietnam War and the Brooklyn Bridge.

His brand-new film investigates the life of Leonardo da Vinci who, very appropriately for this show, painted The Last Supper! So host Rachel Belle consults an Italian archaeologist about what Jesus and the 12 apostles were actually eating in the famous painting.  

Over 20 years ago, Burns helped open a restaurant in his small New Hampshire town called The Restaurant at Burdick’s. He claims to b...

Food can play a significant role in a presidential race as candidates attempt to show how relatable they are through the dishes they eat and the restaurants they visit. Not only do Vice President Kamala Harris and presidential hopeful Donald Trump have different politics, they have extremely different tastes in food. 

In this special election episode of Your Last Meal, award-winning New York Times food reporter Kim Severson says if Harris is elected, she will be the first president with a genuine love and prowess for cooking. Severson elaborates on what a big role cooking has played i...

This week on The Leftovers, never-before-heard audio from Tim Heidecker, one half of the sketch comedy duo Tim & Eric, actor and musician. 

Eric shares a very controversial opinion about pizza (that host Rachel Belle does not agree with!) and, a big baseball fan, he talks about what he likes to eat at the ballpark. 

Listen to last week's YLM episode with Tim!

Subscribe to Your Last Meal on Apple Podcasts or Spotify or YouTube.

Watch Rachel’s Cascade PBS TV show The Nosh with Rachel Belle!

Follow along on Insta...

Tim Heidecker, one half of the Tim & Eric comedy duo, is best known for sketch comedy and acting, but he’s also a musician – he just released his eighth album, Slipping Away.  

One thing Tim isn't? A foodie. He would take a hoagie from Wawa over a fancy meal any day. Tim is from Pennsylvania, which is also the birthplace of Wawa, a convenience store/gas station chain with a cult following. Why? A Wawa-obsessed food writer explains how their hoagies, soft pretzels and iced tea create a sense of belonging. 

When Tim’s on tour with...

This week on The Leftovers, never-before-heard audio from astrologer Tali Edut, one half of the Astro Twins. Tali and her twin sister are longtime astrologers for Elle magazine, matchmakers on the Amazon Prime show Cosmic Love and best-selling authors. 

Tali grew up in Michigan but spent a long time living in New York City, so host Rachel Belle challenges her to debate which pizza is better: a Detroit-style pie or a New York slice. And then we launch into a speed round to get to know Tali’s tastes a little bit better. 

Subscribe to Your...

Tali Edut and her twin sister Ophira are the Astro Twins: longtime astrologers for Elle magazine, matchmakers on the Amazon Prime show Cosmic Love and best-selling authors; their new book is The Astrology Advantage: Use Your Horoscope for Personal and Professional Success.

Tali grew up in a multicultural household eating lots of classic Middle Eastern dishes.
When she eventually moved to New York City, she found comfort at Cafe Mogador, a
Moroccan-Jewish-owned restaurant open since 1983.

Host Rachel Belle chats with the second-generation owner of the East Village favorite
about what makes their Gre...

This week on The Leftovers, never-before-heard audio from comedian and actor John Early! John grew up eating Southern staples like pimento cheese sandwiches and cheesy grits, but since making his home in Los Angeles, his cooking style is drastically different. He tells host Rachel Belle about his most cliche and stereotypical LA eats.  

When John was a kid, he was such a big fan of the Australian actor Toni Collette, he ran a fan appreciation website! He tells Rachel what he would cook if Ms. Collette was coming to dinner.  

Listen to last week's episode of...

Growing up in Nashville with two ministers for parents, John Early’s (Search Party, John Early: Now More Than Ever) formative food memories are linked with church, where the sermons were boring but the donuts were plentiful. Plenty of people go out for breakfast after church on Sundays, but not many know that one of America’s most beloved brunch foods descended from the wafers placed on tongues in the Catholic church in medieval Europe.

John and host Rachel Belle discuss when it’s OK and when it’s not OK to send a dish back in a restau...

Your Last Meal is celebrating 200 episodes (er, belatedly – this is technically episode 203!) with a replay of the podcast’s 100th episode – a very special show where host Rachel Belle interviewed three spectacular 100-year-old Seattle women about their careers, favorite food memories and, of course, their fantasy last meals.

Many of the last meals shared on the podcast are rooted in nostalgia – a dish someone loved as a child, a celebration meal shared with family, a memorable dinner shared with a partner on vacation. And this episode is no different!

Inspired by one of the women’s love for...

This week on The Leftovers, never-before-heard audio from Tamron Hall & Lish Steiling, authors of the new cookbook, A Confident Cook. These buddies met on the set of The Today Show, where Tamron was in front of the camera, and Lish worked behind the scenes as a food stylist for the cooking segments.  

Close friends, Lish and Tamron have shared many meals and holidays together with their friends, family and chosen family, so host Rachel Belle put together a little quiz to see just how well they know each other!

If you missed last week’s Your...

When Emmy Award-winning journalist and talk show host, Tamron Hall, and James Beard Award and Emmy Award–winning culinary producer, Lish Steiling, became fast friends working at The Today Show, they never would have predicted they'd write a cookbook together.

But they just released A Confident Cook, a collection of recipes inspired by Tamron’s and Lish’s backgrounds, plus lots of basic techniques for newbies, like how to properly fry and scramble an egg.  

Tamron’s dad was the cook in the family, and when he passed, she wanted to learn how to gather friends an...

This week on The Leftovers, never-before-heard audio from musicians Aly and AJ, who landed their first record deal as teenagers in 2005, and are still singing for their suppers! 

Aly and AJ are bandmates and sisters who give off big BFF energy, and when it comes to food and fashion, they have a lot in common. So host Rachel Belle quizzes them to see just how much they know about each other’s culinary tastes.  

If you missed last week’s Your Last Meal episode with Aly & AJ, give it a listen.  

Follow along on Instag...

Aly and AJ signed their first record deal when they were just 13 and 15 years old, and nearly 20 years later they’re still singing for their supper. Literally! The sisters love to eat and keep a running list of their favorite restaurants at tour destinations around the world.   

One of their favorite spots in the U.S. is Marfa Burritos, a hole-in-the-wall, family-run Texas burrito joint with a cult following. Columnist and author Gustavo Arellano joins the show to talk about what makes the long, skinny bordertown burritos so special.  

How many times have you dribbled spaghe...

This week on The Leftovers, never-before-heard audio from actor Thomas Doherty, who stars in Disney’s Descendants movies, the reboot of Gossip Girl and the new indie romance film Dandelion. 

Thomas is from Scotland, but moved to the U.S. to pursue acting. When he goes back home to the U.K., his dad always cooks up a big batch of his favorite comfort food: haggis served with neeps and tatties (you can learn all about these dishes on last week’s episode of Your Last Meal!).  

Eager to learn about other traditional Scottish dishes, host R...

Scottish actor Thomas Doherty (Gossip Girl, Descendants, Dandelion) isn’t hungry in America. But the Brooklyn-based film and TV star says he’s famished in Scotland, where artificial dyes and chemicals are banned from food products.

Doherty went to a 900-year-old high school in Scotland, so he loves the fresh energy that a young country like the United States offers. But he’s not a fan of American food, and misses the strict UK food regulations, saying he pretty much lost his appetite since moving to the States.

What he does love is haggis. But Scotla...

Every Labor Day weekend since 1990, tens of thousands of people descend upon a Nevada desert to build an elaborate, eccentric, temporary town called Black Rock City. This is the famed Burning Man festival, and once you’re inside the gate, nothing (but ice) is for sale and bartering and trading are forbidden.  

So how do 70,000 people feed themselves at the Black Rock Desert festival without electricity or running water?

Burning Man runs on a gifting economy, and food is a major currency. On this Very Special Episode of Your Last Meal, we’ll explore Burning Man’s...

This week on The Leftovers, never-before-heard audio from J. Ryan Stradal, the bestselling author of three novels, all set in Minnesota: Kitchens of the Great Midwest, The Lager Queen of Minnesota and Saturday Night at the Lakeside Supper Club. 

Through a not-so-rapid-fire speed round, J. Ryan tells host Rachel Belle about his favorite Minnesota State Fair food, what the J. in his name stands for, and why you really need to open that bottle of wine you're forever saving for a special occasion. 

And we'll explore the history behind a Midwestern fried-food debate: corn dog vs...

The New York Times bestselling novelist J. Ryan Stradel tells host Rachel Belle it was “totally weird to be a teenage foodie in the 1990s.”

He couldn’t wait to get his driver’s license so he could drive into the Twin Cities and eat at restaurants serving mysterious, flavorful, global food — a complete contrast to the bland dishes his parents cooked at home.

Food plays a role in all three of Stradal’s novels, all set in his home state of Minnesota: Kitchens of the Great Midwest, The Lager Queen of Minnesota and Saturday Night at the...

This week on The Leftovers, never-before-heard audio from G. Love, frontman for G. Love & Special Sauce! The band is celebrating 30 years since releasing their self-titled first album, featuring beloved bangers like Baby’s Got Sauce and Cold Beverage.

G. Love tells host Rachel Belle about his big backyard garden, where he grows both edibles and smokables, and shares how he turned his “special sauce” into a tangible product.

When it comes to sugary kid’s cereals, you most likely know the mascots and slogans even if you've never taken a single bite. We learn the stories...

It has been 30 years (!) since G. Love & Special Sauce put out their first album, and in that time G. Love has written a whole lotta food and drink lyrics. He tells host Rachel Belle the origin stories behind songs like Milk & Cereal, Cold Beverage and his album Lemonade. 

Lemonade has special meaning to G. Love, so Rachel chats with Gastro Obscura editor Anne Ewbank about the history of the sweet, puckery drink, the different ways it's prepared around the world and why American children have taken on the responsibility of selling it!

Watch Rachel's Cascade P...

This week on The Leftovers, never-before-heard audio from Geraldine DeRuiter, author of the new book If You Can't Take the Heat & James Beard Award winning writer. 

Geraldine tells host Rachel Belle about her dream Costco sample, shares her perfect birthday cake and, perhaps the most fun part of the episode, the long string of blooper cuts after the credits run!

Watch Rachel's Cascade PBS TV show The Nosh with Rachel Belle!

Follow along on Instagram!

Thanks to Visit Kitsap for sponsoring this episode!

Support Cascade PBS: https://secure.cascadepublicmedia.o...

In her latest book, If You Can’t Take the Heat, Geraldine DeRuiter uses food, humor and her own (often ridiculous!) life to explore the topic of feminism.

Geraldine has a way of, as she puts it, “going bonkers viral.” Millions of people read her James Beard Award-winning blog post, “I Made the Pizza Cinnamon Rolls from Mario Batali’s Sexual Misconduct Apology Letter,” and her essay about a bizarre experience at a Michelin-starred restaurant in Italy inspired a front-page New York Times article.

Over the course of two interviews (host Rachel Belle forgot to ask Geraldin...

This week on The Leftovers, never-before-heard audio from Dan Pashman, host of The Sporkful podcast, inventor of the cascatelli pasta shape, and author of the new cookbook Anything’s Pastable.

Dan was a guest on Your Last Meal in 2017, so host Rachel Belle checks in to see if his last meal has changed over the past seven years.

Then, a speed round! Dan talks about the biggest challenge of writing a cookbook, his carb-on-carb recipe for pasta pizza, and his dream birthday cake. 

Order Rachel's favorite tortillas!

Watch Rachel's Cascade PBS TV...

Award winning The Sporkful podcast host, Dan Pashman, invented a new pasta shape in 2021. Cascatelli was released with great fanfare -- Time magazine declared the pasta one of 2021’s best inventions and it was covered everywhere from The New York Times to Access Hollywood.  

But when fans started tagging Dan on Instagram, eager to show off their cascatelli creations, he realized everyone was bathing their pasta in the same three sauces! Eager to move beyond marinara and mac & cheese, Dan wrote his first cookbook, Anything’s Pastable: 81 Inventive Pasta Recipes for Saucy People.  

On his recent...

This week on The Leftovers, never-before-heard audio from Kathleen Hanna, frontwoman for the groundbreaking feminist punk bands Bikini Kill and Le Tigre and author of the new memoir Rebel Girl. Last week, on Your Last Meal, Kathleen talked about meals she’s eaten that were so good, they made her cry. Like, really cry. 

Today she tells us about her major, if accidental, contribution to a Nirvana record, what it means to be punk-rock while living a comfortable adult life and what it was like working at McDonald’s as a teenager. 

Then host Rachel Belle me...

The legendary riot grrrl and punk rock singer for Bikini Kill and Le Tigre has a reputation for crying over a delicious meal. As far as we know, she's shed tears over sushi, birthday cake, and gelato. Why does food make her so emotional? She breaks it down (but doesn’t break down!) for host Rachel Belle. 

Kathleen, who got her start in the punk scene in Olympia, WA in the early 90s, is best known for being an outspoken feminist and activist; at her early shows she’d speak out about domestic violence and sexual violence betwee...

Today on The Leftovers, a speed round with Jesse Tyler Ferguson; Modern Family star and Tony Award winning Broadway actor. Jesse reveals his bougiest, most cliche LA indulgence and creates a menu for a hypothetical dinner party with Barbra Streisand.  

If you missed last week’s full interview with Jesse, listen here!

Thanks to Visit Kitsap Peninsula for sponsoring this episode!

Watch Rachel's new TV show, The Nosh, on Cascade PBS!

Follow Rachel Belle on Instagram!

Support Cascade PBS: https://secure.cascadepublicmedia.org/page/133995/donate/1/

See omnystudio.com...

The Modern Family star grew up in New Mexico (the Chile Capital of the World!) where the native green chiles find their way into everything from burgers to mac & cheese.

Jesse hasn’t lived in Albuquerque since high school, but he keeps his freezer full of New Mexico green (Hatch) chiles and green chile enchiladas are his forever favorite comfort food. 

The retired director of the Chile Pepper Institute tells host Rachel Belle about the history and migration of spicy peppers from the Americas to the rest of the world, which involves everything from bird poo...

If waiting two whole weeks for a new episode of Your Last Meal is way too long, we’ve got something to tide you over.  

On the weeks we’re not releasing a full-length episode of Your Last Meal, we’re airing The Leftovers: audio left on the cutting-room floor, interviews that host Rachel Belle really wants to do that don’t fit into the show’s usual format and, as you’ll hear today, a speed round with last week’s guest.     

Which means you will now be getting a little taste of Your Last Meal every sing...

Tom Papa is a bread nerd. The comedian, author and podcast host is quick to point out that he got obsessed with baking sourdough bread long before the pandemic sourdough craze. He loves to talk about sourdough, read about sourdough and, of course, bake and eat sourdough. So host Rachel Belle chats with the owner of a Seattle bakery that uses a sourdough starter that’s more than 150 years old.

Pasta with butter and Parmesan may be the meal of choice for picky American children, but in Italy the simple, comforting dish has an entirely different context. Rac...

By the end of this episode, you'll feel like the charming, hilarious and down-to-earth Julia Sweeney is your best friend! Julia and host Rachel Belle discuss everything from her true love of eating alone (and how that makes her husband feel) to the 60th birthday gift she gave herself: never dieting again.

Julia wants to cap her last meal with Canada’s favorite no-bake, layered dessert: the Nanaimo bar! Rachel chats with Joyce Hardcastle, the contest winner who created the city’s official recipe back in 1986, and with the current mayor of Nanaimo, about the history of the...

Tune in to The Nosh with Rachel Belle on April 5 at 8:50pm PST on Cascade PBS, channel 9 in WA and BC, or catch it anytime from anywhere online at www.cascadepbs.org (just scroll down a tad to the Local Originals)

Do delicious bagels actually exist in Seattle? What’s the story behind the city’s first non-alcoholic bottle shop? These are just a couple of the topics Rachel Belle digs into on season one of The Nosh, where stories about the outdoors, art, culture and community are told through the lens of food and drink.

On...

Vanessa Lachey’s first book, Life from Scratch: Family Traditions That Start with You is rooted in a deep and vulnerable place. Vanessa’s mom left when she was a little girl, depriving her of motherly advice, care and the Filipino food she craved. It took decades, but the actor and TV host finally felt empowered to stop mourning what she’d lost, and start creating her own special traditions for her young family – including a chicken adobo recipe her husband, 98 Degrees singer & Love Is Blind co-host Nick Lachey, loves.

Vanessa and host Rachel Belle discuss how she secu...

If waiting two whole weeks for a new episode of Your Last Meal to drop is way too long, I’ve got something to tide you over. 

On the weeks we’re not releasing a full-length episode of Your Last Meal, we’ll be airing a new segment called The Leftovers: audio left on the cutting-room floor, interviews that host Rachel Belle really wants to do that don’t necessarily fit into the show’s usual format and, most often, as you’ll hear today, a speed round with last week’s guest.   

Which means you will now be g...

Gavin Rossdale, frontman for the grunge band Bush (anyone else have his photo on your wall in 1994??), loves to whip up big meals for friends and family in his L.A. home, but it’s nostalgic dishes from his British childhood that make his heart sing.

Gavin grew up in England, eating traditional Sunday roast dinners. So host Rachel Belle chats with British food historian Dr. Neil Buttery about Britain’s favorite meal: How do you get the crispiest potatoes? What is Yorkshire pudding? We cover it all!

And Gavin reveals which non-edible items you can...

What do Super Bowl champions do after they retire from football? If you’re Seahawks legends Richard Sherman and Kam Chancellor, you open a restaurant!

Host Rachel Belle interviewed Kam and Richard back in October, at the grand opening of Legion Sports Bar, their “elevated soul food” restaurant named after the Legion of Boom, the nickname for the Seahawks’ legendary defense backfield.

The guys talk about how they eat now compared to when they played football, and Sherman’s mom, Beverly, tells Rachel there is one food her son won’t eat unless she makes it.

T...

Seattle’s Amanda Knox spent four years in an Italian prison for a murder she didn’t commit, while studying abroad in Perugia. Amanda joined host Rachel Belle on stage in Seattle for a live podcast recording where she was invited to share her experience, in her own words, after years of being misrepresented and mocked by the international press.  

Amanda talks about what prison food was like; why she chose Italian food for her last meal despite her traumatic experience in the country; and how foraging for mushrooms in the Pacific Northwest helped with her recovery. And s...

As a kid, Moshe Kasher (Subculture Vulture, The Endless Honeymoon Podcast, Kasher in the Rye: The True Tale of a White Boy From Oakland Who Became a Drug Addict, Criminal, Mental Patient, and Then Turned 16) led a double life. Most of the year he lived with his deaf single mother in Oakland, Calif., eating carob chips and other classic hippie foods, and in the summers he stayed with his deaf father, a born-again Hasidic Jew in Brooklyn who ate a strict kosher diet.  

Moshe loves to rank things. In this episode, he ranks the world’s worst des...