Advertise on podcast: Speaking Broadly

Macaroni au gratin is the dish that star chef Ashley Christensen might be best known for. Served at Poole's Diner in Raleigh, North Carolina, it's dialed in to perfection. Thoughtfully conceived, utterly delicious, memorable, tweaked where necessary, but never overhauled. This attention to detail that shows in every dish at this 15 year old institution is a reflection of Ashley's leadership style. Profoundly human, intensely fair, and earned over time. Listen in to hear more from one of the most talented leaders in hospitality.

Through her profound connection to her people and land in Apex, North Carolina, cultural preservationist Gabrielle Eitienne shares the importance of place and the power of archiving the wisdom of your community. Says Eitienne: "I was working in the food industry, I was doing pretty well. I had just gotten a really cool job offer and was climbing this ladder that on paper looked really good to me. I also felt that the real work that I needed to do was elsewhere." With that revelation, Eitienne moved home. Listen in to hear stories of family, gardening, juke joints, sack sausage, and love.

Seeing people adversely affected by not planning for more resilient futures, both in the face of climate change and in the face of inevitable economic change, has shaped Briana Warner's entire career. From working with the US Foreign Service as an undergrad to now running Atlantic Sea Farms, Bri has sought out solutions today that will make for a better tomorrow. Right now she's throwing all of her energy into growing kelp with the lobstermen on the coast of Maine. "It is the best food you could possibly eat for people and planet, and I don't think that's hyperbole. There are ways to oversell the impacts of kelp. We're not sequestering carbon. We're not going to reverse climate change. We're not going to save the planet with kelp. But certainly anything that you put on the plate that is not kelp is more carbon intensive and worse for the planet."

Lindsay Hoopes went from working with Kamala Harris on tough cases to taking over her father's Napa Valley winery, which is a job twist she never saw coming. As the CEO at Hoopes Vineyard, she's navigated challenges as complex as those she encountered as a lawyer back in San Francisco. When the 2017 fires blanketed the grapes with smoke, Hoopes had to choose whether to compost the year's crop or find a way to save it. Her move to salvage the vintage with a Napa-appellation Brandy (coined Napagnac) put a spotlight on the future of Napa Valley as the wine industry contends with climate-change related issues among others. Listen in for more on Lindsay's fascinating career and her stewardship of one of Napa's top family-owned wineries. Want to stay up to date on the latest Speaking Broadly episodes? To hear more conversations with Dana Cowin and her fierce guests, subscribe to Speaking Broadly (it’s free!) on iTunes or Stitcher. If you like what you hear, please take a moment to rate + review us on Apple’s podcast store and follow Dana on Instagram @speakingbroadly and @fwscout. Thanks for tuning in!

Chicago chef Beverly Kim has forged a path marked by independence and an acute sense of fairness. Growing up, she heard murmurs of disappointment from her traditional Korean parents about not being born a boy (her name was already picked out: David). Beverly set out for culinary school to prove her worth and worked in some of the best restaurants in Chicago including Charlie Trotter's. It was there that her sense of fairness was awakened. She sued over issues surrounding pay — and won. She has also taken on the fight to make the industry a better place for working mothers through her non-profit The Abundance Setting. Listen in to hear about Beverly’s road to acclaim, self-sustainability and inspired food.

Humble, powerful, visionary hotelier Mary Celeste Beall shares her unique perspective on grief, growth and parenting six years after her beloved husband Sam died in a tragic ski accident. Beall took over running the legendary Blackberry Farm resort and has navigated how to stay true to Sam's legacy while creating a vibrant future that includes an exciting new venture, Blackberry Mountain.

Effusive, funny, game-changing, Rose Previte is an award-winning restaurateur who has expanded our knowledge of international street food at Compass Rose as well as with Caucasian, North African, and Middle Eastern dishes at Maydan. She shares details of her highly anticipated new projects including Go There Wines, which highlights the wines of lesser-known wine-making regions including one of her favorite places on earth, Georgia: "When Russia cut off importing wines from Georgia, as punishment for a war in 2006, it really hurt the economy. But I was like, 'I'm gonna flip this on its head.' I'm going to sell as much Georgian wine as I possibly can. It's my little Putin protest." Listen in for more on Rose's fascinating travels, her globe-changing social enterprises, and the story of how a life-changing moment arose on the Trans Siberian railroad in the dead of winter.

"I worked 16+ hours a day and still had to go home and work because I have a family. So there wasn't enough time for me to sustain myself as well as do all the things for all the people. And I realized that one day while walking to work. I never will forget it. I sat down at my computer around 7:30 in the morning and started to read emails. I got to one from my boss and I started a new thread titled "Resignation." This is how Christa Barfield changed course from exhausted to excited. Tune in to this episode of SB to hear how Christa built her Philly businesses, Farmer Jawn and Viva Leaf Tea, around food justice, regenerative agriculture and a passion for community healthcare.

Rose McAdoo uses desserts to tell bigger stories. From making crepes on a volcano summit while backpacking solo through Africa, to decorating cakes with men serving sentences for life without parole, to creating a self-portrait dessert on an icy precipice in Antarctica—Rose uses sugar to understand the depths of human connection. Hired to cook at base camp at McMurdo Station, the United States Antarctic scientific research station, McAdoo created the Glacier Collection, translating her experiences there into climate change sweets—making the knowledge she acquired "literally digestible". Listen in to hear Rose's adventures on ice and land, spinning sugar and study into simple and compelling narratives that permanently reshape perception.

Artist, activist, founder of C.U.R.B., Candace Thompson will change the way you see the natural world around you—if you're ready to pay attention. Candace's trained looking and researching includes an appreciation of spontaneous urban plants, known to many of us as weeds. "Those plants are the ones that are adapting to be able to survive and some of them are wild crop cousins to the plants that we eat everyday. Like black nightshade, it's the wild crop cousin to our tomatoes. At what point are we gonna need to be able to call on some of that genetic legacy and bring it back to our tomatoes?" On this episode, Candace uplifts people working directly with the land and creating abundance, from Ellie Irons and Anne Percoco at the Next Epoch Seed Library to Sheryll Durrant and Renee Keitt of Kelly Street Garden to Nathan Hunter at the Bronx River Foodway. Listen in to hear about urban foraging, optimistic ideas about climate change, and more. Want to stay up to date on the latest Speaking Broadly episodes? To hear more conversations with Dana Cowin and her fierce guests, subscribe to Speaking Broadly (it’s free!) on iTunes or Stitcher. If you like what you hear, please take a moment to rate + review us on Apple’s podcast store and follow Dana on Instagram @speakingbroadly and @fwscout. Thanks for tuning in!

Shenarri Freeman's vegan soul food at Cadence has lit up New York City—her rolled, fried lasagna was a classic from day one. Yet her success was unexpected. Freeman left a restaurant job in Times Square during the pandemic and was ready to quit the industry altogether when fate intervened and she got a job which led to a series of life-changing events. Listen in to learn about the power of serendipity, the magic of remedial herbs, and what happens when soul food meets vegan.

Through her successful catering company, Great Performances, Liz Neumark has become a powerful advocate for social justice issues in NYC. Listen in to hear how Liz stepped up to help the city feed homebound elderly during the pandemic; launched The Sylvia Center to teach kids about food and cooking; and is steeping herself in issues important to the Bronx community after moving her headquarters there.