Exploring "Your Mama's Kitchen"

Michele Norris joins Longer Tables to talk about her podcast, race and her own mama's kitchen

I know most of you tune in to my podcast to hear my beautiful voice (and excellent English) but on today’s show I have a guest with a voice that you know and love even more than mine! Michele Norris.

Michele was a star on NPR’s All Things Considered, at ABC News and the Washington Post. Throughout her career, she has interviewed all kinds of people: supreme court justices, CEOs and presidents. And before every interview began, she asked each one of them the same question:

Close your eyes and tell me about your mama’s kitchen.

The idea was to relax them, to get them warmed up for a tough interview. But over time, Michele realized how essential that question was. The kitchen you grew up in--what it looked like, what it smelled like, what was, and wasn’t talked about there—is a window into someone’s life.

And so it became a podcast. On Your Mama’s Kitchen, Michele has talked with Michelle Obama, Kerry Washington, Jon Batiste and, yeah, me.

On today’s Longer Tables, I ask Michele the questions. About her mama’s kitchen. About her new book, “Our Hidden Conversations.” About race, and how we can better heal our divisions. And about the secret to her holiday gumbo.

So listen in, and of course, let me know what you think!