Stories
Relaxed Woke Cooking: The Big Brunch on HBO Max
Just like a brunch is about leisure and relaxation with friends and family, The Big Brunch on HBO Max builds culinary entertainment that is good-natured, with contestants supporting each other, with less frantic rhythm and editing style, without bombast and brashness....
Gastronativism: Food as an ideological tool in a globalized world
Present-day gastronativism differs from previous manifestations. It inevitably reflects not only the structure and flows of the global food system but also the social, economic, and political power relations that underpin it and determine its mechanisms. "The way food...
Gastronativism: Food, Identity, Politics
An excerpt from my new book Gastronativism: why reflecting on the connections between food, identity, and politics is important. "IN MANY ways, this book has been in the making for a long time. I have been interested in international politics for many years: I studied...
The cost of Putin’s war: A food security plan for Central and Eastern Europe
by Agata Bachórz, Natasha Bunzl, Eszter Kovacs, Diana Mincyte, Fabio Parasecoli, Simone Piras, Mihai Varga. In Central and Eastern Europe the strain of providing for the refugees from Ukraine is affecting not only large cities but also rural areas near the Ukrainian...
Food in Popular Culture: Why does it matter?
Whatever it is that pop culture does to reach it goals, it does it right. It is a spectacle that works, building on dreams and desires. And food is pervasive in contemporary Western pop culture, influencing the way we perceive and represent ourselves as individuals...
Do we really need more Julia Child?
Five episodes into the new HBO Max series about the beginning of Julia Child’s ascent as a media celebrity and the patron goddess of all things food TV, we are left wondering if we really need yet another show about her. It is hard to find anything particularly new or...