Podcast spotlight: The Unbearable Lightness of Being Hungry

Established in 2012, The Unbearable Lightness of Being Hungry is a Sydney-based podcast founded and hosted by Lee Tran Lam. In each episode she talks to chefs, cookbook authors, critics, bar staff and food fans about their dining habits and favourite places to eat and drink. Lam decided to turn her food blog into a podcast six years ago after a friend’s plans to start a podcast network at Sydney community radio station FBi, where she also volunteers, fell through. ‘It never quite got off the ground, but it did inspire me to start [my] podcast.’ She spoke to Books+Publishing for our ‘podcast spotlight’ series.

For new or uninitiated listeners, describe your podcast in under 50 words.

It’s a long, nosy (and hopefully entertaining) chat with chefs, cookbook authors and other people from the world of food about their culinary background, war stories, career highlights and low points and where they like to eat and drink (often in Sydney, but across state and international lines, too).

What makes your podcast unique?

I wonder if there are any other podcasts where Attica chef Ben Shewry can spend nearly two hours talking about his career: how he used build margarine sculptures for hotel buffets; cook New Zealand’s biggest nachos for drunk diners; and how he became head chef of a restaurant saddled with debt when he was 27, and turned it around after years of maxing out credit cards and working impossible hours.

I enjoy giving chefs, food writers and hospitality staff the time to talk about their many trials, experiences and life lessons. A lot of great stories get shared with listeners, whether it’s Rising Sun Workshop’s Nick Smith explaining how he was inspired to become a chef after a visit from the bomb squad or Shannon Martinez describing how her granddad would make breakfast sandwiches filled with giant slabs of chocolate he had to break up with a hammer.

When and how did you get started in podcasting?

I started the podcast in 2012. Initially, Alex Sol Watts, a fellow volunteer at FBi, would help me record in a studio, but when I learnt how to use a Zoom recorder, I started interviewing chefs in their restaurants, homes, and once, in an actual gutter.

Where and how is your podcast recorded (and how big is your team)?

It’s just me with a Zoom recorder, a set of microphones and the shortest cords you can get! Most of the time, it’s at the chef’s restaurant (where you can hear the sound of dishes being served in the background). But that can vary; the only time I could get during Ferran Adria’s book tour was from the time he left the airport to when he reached his Sydney hotel. So the whole interview happened in the back of the hire car, as the driver sped me, the El Bulli chef, his interpreter and his publisher’s staff to the hotel lobby.

What kind of listeners does your podcast reach?

I hear that many chefs listen to it—Bon Appetit listed it in a round-up of ‘podcasts that chefs listen to’. Some people in publishing tune in, as well as people who actually aren’t that interested in food, but enjoy the stories. Someone once emailed me to say they listened to it as they were finishing their engineering thesis.

What have been your most memorable episodes?

Annabel Crabb was pretty memorable—she talked about the time she burnt her laptop in the oven and all the crazy trials she’s had to overcome in order to cook for politicians. (She once managed to make ice-cream in a hotel room, from memory!)

Analiese Gregory is my all-time favourite interview; her stories are fascinating and wild—from the time she tried to stop her car from blowing up while working in Spain, to working in a particularly punishing Michelin-starred kitchen in Paris, to her spell running a restaurant in Fez, Morocco, where everything—from gas bottles to rubbish—has to be ferried in and out by donkey, because no cars are allowed.

The interview with Ben Shewry is close; everything he talked about was so compelling. He’s probably the only person I’ve heard of who was inspired to create a dish that evokes the time he nearly drowned.

What recent trends have you noticed in podcasting? (Do you have any predictions for this format in the future?)

There’s been a real explosion in podcasts, but they seem to just be expansions on the same formats we’ve seen (comedy podcasts, Q&A podcasts, true-crime podcasts, political podcasts).

The ones that really stand out are shows that have really invested a lot of time in what they do, like the New York Times’ Daily (which can feel like a mini-documentary at times), or In the Dark, where the staff will canvas an entire town to find a witness they need to interview or scan hundreds of thousands of court documents to piece together a point they’re trying to make about prosecutor bias.

Why do you think people are drawn to this format?

It’s personal and intimate (you often only listen solo and with earphones on), often made in a personal way too. It’s individual and wide-ranging as well: any topic you can think of has been covered—from escalators to analyses of the films of Mike Myers.

How do you fund your podcast? Do you have plans to explore other funding options?

I fund it myself. But if someone (appropriate) wants to sponsor it, I’m open to suggestions!

What plans do you have for your podcast going forward?

I’d love to travel to other parts of Australia and record outside of Sydney, but that involves saving up money first to make that possible.

What other bookish podcasts (or podcasts for people who love reading, writing and sharing ideas!) should we be listening to, Australian or otherwise?

Well, if you love Harry Potter, you should check out Binge Mode, which is currently zooming through every single Harry Potter book and film in immense (and very witty) detail.

Season two of In the Dark is incredible. Sometimes Longform and Fresh Air will have good interviews with authors. Ditto The Tim Ferriss show, which recently did a great in-depth Q&A with Brandon Stanton of Humans of New York (the show’s interview with writer Cheryl Strayed is also worth hunting out).

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Tags: podcast spotlight

Category: Features