The creator of the captivating podcast turned TV show 'Song Exploder' joins Dave and Chris to explore the kitchen equivalent of demo tapes, the as-yet-unrealized dream that is Cookie Exploder, that time U2 put an album on everyone’s phone, eating like a Buddhist monk, disrobing at a dinner party, what makes great restaurant music, and Dave’s unbroken record of never having watched 'The West Wing.'  Listen to Hrishikesh’s dinner-party playlist here: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/6Pxi5QSinRtBvQfselifLB?si=9d06714e63a34cd8 Hosts: Dave Chang and Chris Ying Guest: Hrishikesh Hirway Associate Producer: Sasha Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Dave and Chris assemble for a late-night review of recent meals, the best sick-day foods, and a few different international mysteries. Also considered: the healing powers of mapo tofu, Dave's post–'Hot Ones' death throes, eating beef jerky in Copenhagen, asking for seconds at the sushiya, chicken soup component rankings, Dave's praise for matzo balls, the ham–chicken broth nexus, eating as exercise, and the strange allure of the unfilled dumpling. Hosts: Dave Chang and Chris Ying Associate Producer: Sasha Ashall Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

When L.A.’s Guelaguetza restaurant opened in the mid-’90s, mole and mezcal and all the other treasures of Oaxacan cuisine were a long way from the cachet they carry today. Co-owner Bricia Lopez joins Dave and Chris to talk about how her family helped put their culture on the map. Discussed: where Dave will retire, hunting wild boar in the 1930s, opening a Oaxacan restaurant in Koreatown, eating tlayudas at the Four Seasons, bringing your kids into the industry, Chris’s unwarranted tie-dye skepticism, making mole vs. making bolognese, smoke as a condiment, culinary bullshit detectors, roasting chiles and complaining, and Dave’s chipotle pepper misadventures. Hosts: Dave Chang and Chris Ying Guest: Bricia Lopez Associate Producer: Sasha Ashall Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

We were supposed to record a MOIF, but Dave and Chris got in an argument about the topic. One wanted to talk about curry. The other wanted meatloaf. Which one would you rather they discussed? Well, it doesn’t matter, because they didn’t end up talking about either. This is what a podcast sounds like after our cohosts fight, storm off, make up, and finally record a podcast about their kids being their best friends, flannel pajamas as a medieval torture device, and possibly reapplying to college. Hosts: Dave Chang and Chris Ying Associate Producer: Sasha Ashall Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

It’s the first MOIF of the year, and we’re off to a dark start. Dave laments his own cooking, and searches for inspiration. Also, pizza is great. Hosts: Dave Chang and Chris Ying Guest: Noelle Cornelio Associate Producer: Sasha Ashall Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices