Best Code City Crack The Code Podcasts (2025)

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Pocahontas 13:45

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11m ago13:45

13:45

One of the most notable figures in early American history is Pocahontas. Best known as the main character in Disney’s animated film Pocahontas, she was not a fictional character. She was, in fact, quite real. However, her real life is radically different from that depicted in popular culture. In fact, there are enormous discrepancies between the st…

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700: Elbow Bread's Zoë Kanan Makes the Case for the Knish 1:37:41

2h ago1:37:41

1:37:41

Zoë Kanan is the baker-partner of Elbow Bread, a very special Jewish-American bakery in New York’s Lower East Side. She’s produced some of the most important pastries in New York over the past 15 years, from being one of the first-ever interns at Christina Tosi’s Milk Bar to baking bagels at Sadelle’s under Melissa Weller and running the bread and …

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Helium 16:24

4m ago16:24

16:24

Sitting at the far top right of the periodic table is the element helium. Helium is the second-lightest and second-most abundant element in the universe. It is also an inert gas that doesn’t form molecules with anything. It has extremely few uses and, despite its cosmic abundance, is very hard to find on Earth. Yet in the future, it might become on…

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Romance Languages 16:25

27m ago16:25

16:25

Almost a billion people in the world today speak a language that originated from Latin, aka a Romance Language. Despite sharing the same origin, the Romance languages have evolved differently, in some cases very differently. ….and while you are almost certainly aware of the largest Romance language, there is a good chance that you have never heard …

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699: Exciting News From the Land of Sqirl with Jessica Koslow 1:05:25

2d ago1:05:25

1:05:25

It was really great to have Jessica Koslow in for a conversation. Jessica is the chef and founder of Sqirl in Los Angeles, a pioneering breakfast and lunch counter that serves inventive rice bowls and jams on toast and that inspired a whole generation of all-day cafés. In this episode, we talk a bit about Jessica’s early career before going into he…

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The Luddites 14:16

9m ago14:16

14:16

At some point, you might have been called, or might have called someone else a Luddite, due to a refusal to adopt a new technology. Nowadays, it’s usually done in jest, but the Luddites were real. While the term is often used to describe any anti-technology attitude, the actual Luddite worldview was more subtle than simply opposing anything new and…

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All About Dog Breeds 13:39

4d ago13:39

13:39

When looking at your neighbor's dachshund and your great dane, it is hard to believe that these dogs trace back to the same ancestors. Yet, this is true! Through centuries of domestication and selective breeding, humans have transformed dogs into the most diverse mammal species known today. Yet, despite the incredible diversity in dog breeds, remar…

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698: Best Cookbooks of the Year with Now Serving and Kitchen Arts & Letters 1:12:58

4d ago1:12:58

1:12:58

What better way to talk about the year in cookbook publishing than by speaking directly with the source: the booksellers. Today on the show we are joined by Matt Sartwell of New York’s Kitchen Arts & Letters and Ken Concepcion of LA’s Now Serving. Matt and Ken tell us about what is selling in their stores and name some of their personal favorite ti…

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The Manhattan Project (Encore) 15:47

5d ago15:47

15:47

During the Second World War, the United States embarked on one of the greatest science and engineering projects the world had ever seen. Over 125,000 people took part in the program, the vast majority of which had no clue what it was for, and the total cost of the program was over a billion dollars at a time when a billion dollars was a lot of mone…

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How a Broken Foster Care System Fuels Crime, Homelessness and the Addiction Crisis in Blue Cities 1:12:12

5d ago1:12:12

1:12:12

Wards of the State: The Long Shadow of American Foster Care was a National Book Award finalist. Author Claudia Rowe exposes the chilling truth: the nation's foster care system is a "major gear" driving mass homelessness and the incarceration crisis in American cities. She shares shocking statistics—including studies that found up to 59% of youth wh…

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Operation Bernhard 16:28

7m ago16:28

16:28

Wars can be fought in many different ways. Ultimately, they are resolved on the battlefield. However, there are other ways to try to subdue an enemy. You can try to destroy their logistical support for their troops. You can attempt to destroy their economic base by burning their agricultural fields and destroying their factories. However, one relat…

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Episode 62: A festive fundraising favorite 12:07

6h ago12:07

12:07

Dave Moore hosts Mario Gernazio and Noah Commerford on Pueblo's Podcast. Mario Gernazio is the director of resource development for United Way of Pueblo County and Noah Commerford is the president and CEO of the Latino Chamber of commerce of Pueblo. They're talking about the 14th annual Festival of Trees. It's a fundraiser hosted by Pueblo Latino C…

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A Brief History of Neckties 14:27

7d ago14:27

14:27

One of the most ubiquitous items of clothing in formal and business attire is the necktie. Yet even a cursory check of paintings from several centuries ago shows that neckties have not been around forever. They are, in fact, a relatively recent invention. Over the last century, neckwear has both defined fashion and changed with the times. Learn mor…

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697: Translating Italian Cooking’s Holy Grail 51:05

7d ago51:05

51:05

Book editor Michael Szczerban joins us in the studio to talk about The Talisman of Happiness, a book he worked over a decade to have translated from Italian into English. As we find out, it’s an iconic (and quite unwieldy—1,680 recipes!) text that its author, Ada Boni, originally published in 1929. The book’s influence cannot be overstated, and for…

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NASCAR 16:12

21h ago16:12

16:12

The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing, better known as NASCAR, has become one of the most recognizable and uniquely American forms of motorsport. It emerged from the traditions of the rural South, shaped by the ingenuity of moonshine runners and the broader story of the American car. Over time, the sport transformed into a highly sophi…

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The History of Nintendo 15:26

2d ago15:26

15:26

Nintendo is one of the most legendary video game companies in the world. Many of you have probably owned a Nintendo system to play video games. If you are old enough, you might have even played some of their games in a video arcade. Even if you have never played a video game, through cultural osmosis, you are probably still aware of many of its pop…

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696: Rich Torrisi Doesn't Do Vanilla 37:16

2d ago37:16

37:16

Rich Torrisi is the prolific New York City chef and empire builder behind some of the most buzzed-about restaurants in the United States, including Parm, Sadelle’s, the Pool, Carbone, and his most personal venture,Torrisi. Matt was a fan of Rich’s breakout restaurant, Torrisi Italian Specialties, when it opened at 250 Mulberry Street in 2009. What …

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The Year 1975 16:27

10d ago16:27

16:27

By 1975, the world had seen 25 years of radical change. The changes seen in the first half of the 20th century accelerated even faster. Empires ended, there were social and technical revolutions, new nations were created, humans landed on the moon, and the world was in the midst of peak Cold War. Energy, inflation, and civil rights, which had alway…

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Questions and Answers: Volume 37 13:23

11d ago13:23

13:23

In the north, things are getting colder, snow is starting to fall, and the days are getting shorter. It is also the season for gift-giving. As I can’t personally give all of you a customized gift, I can do the next best thing and answer your questions. Stay tuned for the 37th installment of questions and answers on this episode of Everything Everyw…

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695: Holiday Cookie Boot Camp with Vaughn Vreeland & Marissa Rothkopf 1:14:25

11d ago1:14:25

1:14:25

Vaughn Vreeland is a cookbook author, NYT Cooking writer, and longtime video personality—or, as he writes, “that guy from that thing I saw once.” His first book, Cookies: The Best Recipes for the Perfect Anytime Treat, was published in collaboration with NYT Cooking and includes 100 amazing cookie recipes from Vaughn along with a deep bench of reci…

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Panama 15:36

5d ago15:36

15:36

Panama is best known as the location of the Panama Canal, the waterway that revolutionized international sea transportation. However, there is a lot more to the country. Its history is unlike any other nation in the Americas, and its path to independence was unusual to say the least. Given its location, it also has a geography unlike any other coun…

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Italian vs German Fascism 16:26

13d ago16:26

16:26

Fascism is one of the most notorious political ideologies that shaped the 20th century. Fascism is typically only thought of in tandem with Nazi Germany, but it wasn’t the only country that adhered to the ideology, and they weren’t even the first. The originator was Italy. Despite many similarities between fascist Italy and Germany, the two nations…

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694: Inside the New York Magazine Food Beat with Chris Crowley 1:00:35

13d ago1:00:35

1:00:35

It’s the return of Food Writers Talking About Food Writing. Every couple of weeks, Matt invites a journalist to talk about some favorite recent food writing as well as their thoughts on the industry as a whole. In today’s episode, we talk with Chris Crowley. Chris is a senior writer at New York magazine covering food and culture around the five bor…

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The Desecration of St. Denis (Encore) 12:53

14d ago12:53

12:53

The French Revolution was one of the most significant events in history. It wasn’t just a political revolution where one government replaced another. It was also a social revolution where the revolutionaries attempted to upend the entire foundation of French society. But it wasn’t just enough to change France. There were also efforts to obliterate …

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693: Rome's Real Deal and Cracking Carbonara's Code with Katie Parla 1:03:13

14d ago1:03:13

1:03:13

There is no food writer we would rather talk to about Italy—and maybe about food in general—than Katie Parla. Katie is the author of several books, and her latest is a return to her hometown of Rome. Rome: A Culinary History, Cookbook, and Field Guide to the Flavors that Built a City captures the history and modern culinary spirit of one of the wor…

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The Apollo 1 Disaster (Encore) 14:16

15d ago14:16

14:16

In the early 1960s, the United States was always a step behind the Soviet Union in the space race. By the mid-1960s, the Americans had caught up. They didn’t have many glamorous firsts, but they were doing increasingly difficult things in space. All of that came crashing to a halt on January 27, 1967, when three astronauts died in what was a seemin…

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What Makes a Great City? 30:30

9d ago30:30

30:30

This Thanksgiving week, Blue City Blues sits down with former traffic engineer and urban planner Ray Delahanty, better known as “CityNerd” on YouTube. We get into the essential question: “what makes a great city?” Ray also shares his insights on the concept of "affordable urbanism" and gives us his honest assessment of one of modern transportation'…

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Divers in the Water with FDNY Battalion Chief Thor Johannessen, Captain Frederick Ill and Firefighter Jacob Dutton 55:32

16d ago55:32

55:32

On the morning of November 12, 2023, FDNY members in Manhattan executed a dramatic dive rescue in the Hudson River. As initial FDNY units arrived, a witness reported that a man had climbed over the railing and fallen backward into the water. After a brief struggle, he disappeared beneath the surface. Within moments, FDNY surface swimmers and a SCUB…

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Fear and Loathing: The Danger of Numerical Goals 43:32

13d ago43:32

43:32

Fear and Loathing: The Danger of Numerical Goals In this episode of the Why They Fail Podcast, we take on one of the biggest traps in modern management: the obsession with numerical goals.Dr. W. Edwards Deming warned against this decades ago in his famous Point 11, which calls for the elimination of management by objectives. Today, those warnings s…

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Imperial Units of Measure (Encore) 17:56

16d ago17:56

17:56

Almost every country in the world uses the metric system…..almost. There are still a few stragglers, like the United States, who use units handed down to them from the British. These are known as Imperial Units. These units often confuse those living in countries that use the metric system….as well as those who live in countries that use Imperial U…

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692: What Breaking 2 Million on Social Really Feels Like with Hannah Taylor 55:54

16d ago55:54

55:54

Hannah Taylor is the fast-growing culinary creator known on TikTok and Instagram as LilyLouTay. She is the author of the New York Times Best Seller Measure with Your Heart, and she joins us in the studio with a really fun conversation about her Southern cooking roots and her journey from being a working mother of three to a social media megastar. A…

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Roller Coasters 14:48

17d ago14:48

14:48

For over a century, people have enjoyed the thrill of visiting an amusement park and riding roller coasters. The very first thing we can point to and call a proto-roller coaster had neither rollers nor did it coast. It was more of a slide. Over time, Roller coasters have evolved into massive steel giants, testing the limits of physics and engineeri…

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The Paraguayan War (Encore) 15:50

18d ago15:50

15:50

In the 1860s, one of the bloodiest wars in the Western Hemisphere took place….and it wasn’t the US Civil War. It was a war between Paraguay and an alliance of Uruguay, Argentina, and Brazil, and it was one of the bloodiest ever fought in Latin America. It was a conventional war that resulted in a guerrilla war, which spawned famine and disease. Lea…

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691: Samin Nosrat Does It Again 1:07:29

18d ago1:07:29

1:07:29

Samin Nosrat is a chef, teacher, and author of the bestselling, James Beard Award–winning cookbook Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat, and the star of the very popular titular documentary series on Netflix. Now, she’s back with a truly excellent new cookbook: Good Things. Today on the show, we go deep on the journey that led her to Good Things, why recipes are …

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The Ottoman Empire 16:49

17d ago16:49

16:49

One of the most important empires in history was the Ottoman Empire. It wasn’t the biggest empire, but it had an outsized impact on the world due to its strategic location and its moment in history. The Ottomans shocked the world by capturing the city of Constantinople and later almost conquering much of Central Europe. Despite having a six-hundred…

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The Kokoda Track 14:03

20d ago14:03

14:03

In July 1942, Japanese forces landed on the north shore of the island of New Guinea Their goal was to cross the island by land and take the strategic city of Port Moresby. If they had been successful, the entire fate of the war in the Pacific would have altered. They didn’t take it, thanks to the tenacious resistance put up by Australian forces. Le…

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The Phoebus Cartel 15:04

14d ago15:04

15:04

Companies that sell products to the public have to follow a fine line. On the one hand, they need to sell stuff to make money, and the way they do that is by making a good product. However, if their product is too good, then people might not need to buy it again, or at least not for a long time. Almost 100 years ago, a consortium of industrialists …

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690: Eating Along the Many Silk Roads with Anna Ansari 1:00:56

21d ago1:00:56

1:00:56

Anna Ansari is a former New York international trade and customs attorney and now lives in East London. She's written a fascinating debut cookbook, Silk Roads: A Flavor Odyssey with Recipes from Baku to Beijing. It covers Anna's life growing up in an Iranian American family in Michigan and traveling throughout Asia from a young age on what she desc…

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The Marshall Plan (Encore) 15:53

22d ago15:53

15:53

At the end of the Second World War, Europe was a mess. The economies of most countries were in shambles and the threat of communism loomed over the continent. In a speech at Harvard University on June 5, 1947, U.S. Secretary of State George C. Marshall proposed a plan which could help get Europe back on its feet. The plan is widely considered one o…

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Swiss Neutrality 15:03

16d ago15:03

15:03

There are several rules that should be followed when going to war: Germany should never fight wars against the entire world Don’t invade Russia in the Winter. Never fight a land war in Asia. There is also one other rule that should be added to that list: Don’t count on Switzerland as an ally. For over two centuries, Switzerland has remained staunch…

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689: Tom Colicchio's First Cookbook Says It All 59:12

23d ago59:12

59:12

Tom Colicchio is a longtime chef who has operated some of America’s iconic restaurants, including Craft, Gramercy Tavern, and dozens more. He’s also the head judge on the show Top Chef. We welcomed Tom back to the studio to talk about the current restaurant landscape as well as the release of Think Like a Chef, the 25th anniversary edition of his d…

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Hollow Nickel Case 14:46

24d ago14:46

14:46

In 1953, a newspaper delivery boy in Brooklyn, New York, made an odd discovery. One of his customers gave him a nickel that seemed lighter than the others. When he dropped it, it popped open, exposing a small piece of microfilm. It was the bizarre beginning of the exposure and discovery of a spy ring in the United States that ultimately contributed…

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The V2 Rocket 14:32

18d ago14:32

14:32

The Second World War saw the development of many new weapons. Perhaps none was more terrifying than the development of long-range strategic rockets. Rockets had been used in combat for centuries, dating back to their development in ancient China; however, the rockets developed by Germany were a different matter altogether. They terrorized civilians…

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688: Gabrielle Hamilton on Writing Hard Truths and Prune’s New Era 1:04:24

25d ago1:04:24

1:04:24

Gabrielle Hamilton is the chef/owner of Prune restaurant in New York’s East Village and is the author of the New York Times best-selling memoir Blood, Bones & Butter: The Inadvertent Education of a Reluctant Chef and the cookbook Prune. Her moving new memoir Next of Kin is an unflinching portrait of her dynamic family and its dramatic dissolution t…

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Alexander Hamilton 15:55

23d ago15:55

15:55

Alexander Hamilton was a U.S founding father who has been growing in popularity due to the popular musical Hamilton, by Lin-Manuel Miranda. Hamilton was the first U.S Secretary of the Treasury and was foundational in the formation of American finance and government policies that remain in place to this day. He is featured on the US Ten Dollar Bill …

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The Fra Mauro Medieval World Map 14:34

27d ago14:34

14:34

Sometime around the year 1450, a monk living just outside of Venice created one of the greatest maps of the medieval world. It was an enormous map, even by modern standards, and it had a level of detail that had never been seen before. It took years to make and was a major advancement in cartography. Perhaps most importantly, it contained many deta…

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687: Peak Private Label on Food Writers Talking About Food Writing with Maggie Hoffman 51:47

27d ago51:47

51:47

It’s the return of Food Writers Talking About Food Writing. Every couple of weeks, Matt invites a journalist to talk about some favorite recent food writing as well as their thoughts on the industry as a whole. In today’s episode, we talk with Maggie Hoffman. Maggie is a cookbook author, editor, and founder of the terrific Substack The Dinner Plan …

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Borobudur 15:16

21d ago15:16

15:16

Located in Central Java, outside of the modern city of Yogyakarta, lies the world’s largest Buddhist temple, Borobudur. Borobudur doesn’t get as much attention as other great monuments in the world, but it should certainly be included among them. Unlike other great monuments, Borobudur has a distinction that no other monument has. It disappeared, q…

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686: Cha McCoy Is Doing Wine Pairings for the People 1:14:53

25d ago1:14:53

1:14:53

Cha McCoy is an entrepreneur, educator, and sommelier from Harlem. She is the founder of the wine event series the Communion and, later, the brick-and-mortar bottle shop the Communion Wine & Spirits. Now she’s sharing her wine knowledge in her first book: Wine Pairing for the People: The Communion of Wine, Food, and Culture from Africa and Beyond. …

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LEGO 15:08

29d ago15:08

15:08

Lego is one of the best-known toy brands in the world. Known for its fun and complex building process, the small plastic bricks encourage creativity and playability, and have become a staple in most households with kids. However, they aren’t just free-form toys for children. They have also graduated into high-end items for adults. In fact, some set…