Your Mama’s Kitchen
“Tell me about your mama's kitchen.” That’s the simple request which begins each episode of this Audible Original podcast from acclaimed journalist Michele Norris (NPR’s All Things Considered, The Washington Post) and Higher Ground, Barack and Michelle Obama's media company.
Every week, hear guests like Michelle Obama, Glennon Doyle and Abby Wambach, Matthew Broderick, D-Nice, José Andrés, and more explore the complexities of family life and how their earliest culinary experiences helped shape their personal and professional lives—and of course,each guest brings a recipe for a favorite dish from their youthso you can taste a bit of their story.
With a delicious buffet of actors, authors, chefs, musicians, and more, the rich conversations that flow from that simple, initialprompt reveal the histories, memories, and cultures that emerge from the kitchen—the heart of the home—where we are nourished physically and spiritually. Some of our most valuable and vulnerable moments happened there as we watched parents struggle with bills, wrestle with shifting family dynamics, or figure out new roles for themselves as feminism changed the national terrain. Your Mama’s Kitchen is a podcast about cuisine and culture, ingredients and identities, and the meals and memories that make us who we are.
Please Note: This is now the home of Your Mama’s Kitchen hosted by Michele Norris. To listen to Michelle Obama: The Light, search for it wherever you listen.
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Our Editor's Take
Journalist and Race Card Project creator Michele Norris hosts Your Mama's Kitchen. It's a warm, inviting interview podcast about family, memory, and food. Michele coaxes personal stories from celebrities with her soothing voice and even tone.
Each episode begins with a soundbite from the guest. In the first episode, former First Lady Michelle Obama says that her mama's kitchen was a small space that felt big. Norris asks Obama to recall South Euclid Avenue on the South Side of Chicago. Obama's great-aunt and uncle owned the two-story building and lived on the first floor. She doesn't think it was an official two-family home since the second-floor space she lived in was so small.
Comedian Conan O'Brien reminisces about his father's cooking style. He describes his father as methodical in learning recipes. But O'Brien also recalls his father was not one to clean up after himself while cooking. He notes that, though he rarely cooks, his wife has noticed that he inherited this trait.
Actor George Takei tells Norris about New Year cuisine. It was a big winter celebration for his Japanese family. His mother and aunts would start cooking a week ahead of time. Takei describes a favorite sushi roll his mother would make. She would hollow out a deep-fried tofu cube and fill it with her mix of rice, carrots, and vinegar. This type of sushi is inari, but young Takei referred to these rolls as "footballs."
Your Mama's Kitchen evokes both food cravings and emotional honesty. Chef and Vegan Soul Kitchen author Bryant Terry shares something special with Michele. Terry talks about his grandmother, whom he called Ma'dear. She always sang in the kitchen. He asked his mother to sing the song he remembered and made a recording. He played a snippet of his mother's sweet singing for Norris. Listeners can hear his mother cooking. With the sound of sauteing onions in the background, it's a lovely moment for audiences to connect to.
Those with a passion for food and nostalgia may enjoy this podcast. Your Mama's Kitchen episodes are between 30 to 40 minutes long.
Episodes