If This Could Food Could Talk

If This Food Could Talk: History for everyone who eats

Everything we eat has a story to tell. What does our food say about who we are, where we come from, and about the way we live? How does it help us connect with neighbors and understand foreign cultures? Aside from being delicious, why do we care so much about food?

American Public Television (APT) – the public media home of acclaimed lifestyle series like America’s Test Kitchen and The Best of the Joy of Painting with Bob Ross – has launched APT Podcast Studios with their first original production: If This Food Could Talk, history for everyone who eats. We take a look into the world’s pantry and come back with incredible stories.

Each episode, Mediterranean culinary and lifestyle expert Claudia Hanna – founder of Athena’s Bump and creator of the Live Like a Goddess brand – travels the globe to offer savory (and sound-rich) stories of how much food means and has meant to all of us, with stories ranging from the million-dollar ice-cream-making barge that was deployed by the US Navy during WWII, to the olive oil used to mummify Egyptian royalty.

If This Food Could Talk launches August 24. New episodes are available every other Thursday on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Episodes

View all

Aug. 1, 2023

Introducing If This Food Could Talk

History For Everyone Who Eats

Aug. 24, 2023

Frozen in Time: Ice Cream and America’s Past

Claudia Hanna gives you the scoop on Ice Cream and America's Past, from founding fathers through WWII.

Sept. 7, 2023

Pizza's Evolution: From Nasty Cake to America’s Favorite Food

Americans can’t seem to get enough pizza

Sept. 21, 2023

Swimming in Olive Oil: An Ancient Love Affair

In the Mediterranean, olive oil is more than an ingredient. It’s a way of life.

Oct. 5, 2023

From Sauerkraut to Miso: How Fermentation Changed the World

Probiotic yogurt, kimchi, and kombucha have hit supermarket shelves, but how did the ancient practice of fermentation change our world?

Oct. 19, 2023

Long Live Leftovers: Chef Jacques Pépin on the Joy of Thrifty Cooking

Chef Jacques Pépin learned never to waste a scrap of food. Cook thrifty and elevate leftovers!

View all Episodes

Join the Email List

Listen On

Recent Blog Posts

Recipes from Episode 10: "By Us For Us - Culinary Trailblazer Freda DeKnight and the Ebony Test Kitchen"

Freda DeKnight was a force to be reckoned with. She was the first food editor for Ebony Magazine in 1946. Her beloved column, A Date With a Dish, was an instant success. One of Freda’s secret was to share recipes, stories, and the lives of Bla…

Recipes from Episode 9: "If Your Food Could Talk"

In today’s episode, we turned the mic on you, our listeners. We heard stories from as far away as Turkey, Italy, and Tokyo, and as close and near as multi-generations of cooking, laughing, and sharing on family kitchen counters. It was wonderf…

Recipes from Episode 8: "The Holy Loophole: How A California Winery Survived Prohibition"

In today’s episode, we cover everything about wine during the Prohibition era. I thought it would be fun to celebrate that we are NOT in the Prohibition era! To that end, join me as we circle back to some of our favorite episodes in Season One…

View all posts

About the Host

Claudia Hanna

Host and Producer, If This Food Could Talk

Host and producer Claudia Hanna is a fearless advocate for lifestyle & wellness innovation. A relentless entrepreneur, Claudia founded Athena’s Bump, a maternal nutrition company focusing on customized nutrition for women and expecting families.

Her two Mediterranean mothers, Egyptian-Greek “Mom” Kamilia and Cypriot mother-in-law Tulin, taught her not only how to cook, but how to honor generations-old recipes and the history of the foods she shares. She takes her love for authentic Mediterranean cooking to classrooms at the University of Virginia and James Madison University, where she teaches the “Eat Like a Greek” class. For those wanting more of a taste of the Old World, Claudia leads immersive and adventurous foraging, historical, and culinary tours throughout Turkey, Cyprus, and Greece.

In addition to English, she speaks Arabic, Greek, and Turkish. She loves introducing new people to the beautiful languages, ancient cultures, and wonderful foods of the Mediterranean.